Thursday Night Previews: Aquaman Torpedoes the Competition, Mary Poppins has a Quiet Return

December 21, 2018

Aquaman

Aquaman earned $9.0 million during Thursday’s previews, which is a little lower than the $11.0 million Wonder Woman opened with. However, the film also had $4.7 million in earlier paid previews, which undoubtedly lowered last night’s figure a little bit. Its reviews continue to be good, but not great, so it won’t have amazing legs over the weekend, but after a start like this, topping Star Wars: The Last Jedi’s $71.56 million haul from last year is a lot more likely. In fact, $80 million over three-days is a realistic goal to aim for.

Bumblebee pulled in $2.15 million during previews. Like Aquaman, it too had earlier paid previews and it earned $700,000 then for total previews of $2.85 million. It has earned arguably the best reviews of the five releases hitting theaters this weekend, but its target audience means it won’t have the best legs. That said, it should have better legs than Aquaman and our $25 million opening three-day weekend is still a reasonable target to aim for.

Second Act was well back with $515,000. Mixed reviews won’t help its legs, but the lack of direct competition will, and it appears to be on pace to match our $10 million five-day opening nearly perfectly.

On the other hand, Welcome to Marwen flopped with just $190,000. The film’s reviews have gotten a little better, going from 15% positive to 25% positive, but that’s damning it with faint praise.

Mary Poppins Returns didn’t have previews last night, because it started on Wednesday. So far, I’ve not been impressed with the film’s box office run. An opening day of $4.76 million isn’t a monster start, while it dropped 15% on Thursday to $4.05 million. It’s a family film with good reviews and an A minus from CinsmaScore, so that should help its legs. However, it won’t be a monster hit, nor will it be the biggest hit of the Christmas break.

- Aquaman Comparisons
- Mary Poppins Returns Comparisons
- Bumblebee Comparisons
- Second Act Comparisons
- Welcome to Marwen Comparisons

Filed under: Midnight Previews, Aquaman, Mary Poppins Returns, Bumblebee, Welcome to Marwen, Second Act