{"id":193291,"date":"2018-12-10T01:23:24","date_gmt":"2018-12-10T06:23:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/?p=193291"},"modified":"2018-12-10T01:23:24","modified_gmt":"2018-12-10T06:23:24","slug":"ralph-tops-box-office-again-aquaman-is-a-hit-in-china","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/2018\/12\/10\/ralph-tops-box-office-again-aquaman-is-a-hit-in-china\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Ralph’ tops box office again, ‘Aquaman’ is a hit in China"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
For the second week in a row, no new wide releases opened in North American theatres, allowing Disney’s animated sequel to again lead domestic ticket sales with $16.1 million, according to studio estimates Sunday.(File photo<\/a>: @wreckitralph\/Twitter<\/a>)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

NEW YORK \u2014 In the calm before the Christmas storm at the box office, \u201cRalph Breaks the Internet\u201d remained No. 1 for the third straight week, while the upcoming DC Comics superhero film \u201cAquaman\u201d arrived with a cannonball-sized splash in Chinese theatres.<\/p>\n

For the second week in a row, no new wide releases opened in North American theatres, allowing Disney’s animated sequel to again lead domestic ticket sales with $16.1 million, according to studio estimates Sunday.<\/p>\n

The top six films at the box office were all unchanged. Universal’s \u201cThe Grinch,\u201d still a major draw in its fifth weekend, trailed in second with $15.2 million.<\/p>\n

But the weekend’s biggest new arrival was in China, where Warner Bros.’ \u201cAquaman\u201d debuted with $93.6 million in ticket sales. That marked a new opening-weekend record for both Warner Bros. and DC in China. Considering the checkered recent history of DC films (\u201cJustice League,\u201d \u201cSuicide Squad\u201d), the big launch in China was a promising sign for the spinoff starring Jason Momoa.<\/p>\n

\u201cAdding to the success of ‘Wonder Woman,’ this is a really solid performance and portends big numbers for North America in two weeks when it opens,\u201d said Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst for Comscore. \u201cThis is a movie, along with ‘Mary Poppins Returns’ and ‘Bumblebee’ and other movies, that’s going to give December that boost that a ‘Star Wars’ movie would give us.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAquaman\u201d will expand to 40 international countries next week and arrive in North American theatres Dec. 21.<\/p>\n

\u201cAquaman\u201d wasn’t the only big-budget holiday season release receiving a lift this week. Paramount’s \u201cTransformers\u201d prequel \u201cBumblebee\u201d played a one-night sneak preview in 326 theatres nationwide ahead of its Dec. 21 release.<\/p>\n

Paramount declined to share ticket figures but domestic distribution chief Kyle Davies said theatres were mostly sold out. Perhaps more importantly, the film directed by Travis Knight and starring Hailee Steinfeld aided its word of mouth with largely glowing reviews \u2014 a rarity for the \u201cTransformers\u201d franchise.<\/p>\n

Disney’s \u201cMary Poppins Returns,\u201d due out Dec. 19, also helped its cause with four Golden Globe nominations Thursday, including best picture, comedy or musical, and acting nods for Emily Blunt and Lin-Manuel Miranda.<\/p>\n

The feel-good interracial road trip period tale \u201cGreen Book\u201d fared even better at the Globes (five nominations, including best picture, comedy or musical, and acting nods for Mahershala Ali and Viggo Mortensen) and had good results at the box office to show for it. In its fourth week of release, \u201cGreen Book\u201d held with a rare 0 per cent drop, earning $3.9 million in 1,181 theatres. It has grossed $20 million in total.<\/p>\n

Yorgos Lanthimos’ comic period drama \u201cThe Favourite\u201d continued to pick up steam. The acclaimed Fox Searchlight release, starring Olivia Colman, Emma Stone and Rachel Weisz, expanded into 91 theatres over the weekend to gross $1.4 million ($15,000 per theatre).<\/p>\n

A more traditional royal drama, \u201cMary Queen of Scots,\u201d also opened strongly in limited release. The Focus Features title, starring Saoirse Ronan as Mary Stuart and Margot Robbie as Elizabeth I, debuted in four theatres with a robust $50,045 per-theatre average. Lis Bunnell, president of distribution for Focus, said the film’s modern spin \u201cmade it resonate with audiences in a powerful way paralleling so much of what is still going on today for women.\u201d<\/p>\n

Also opening in limited release were \u201cBen Is Back,\u201d the family addiction drama with Julia Roberts and Lucas Hedges (a $20,243 per-theatre average in four theatres), and the caustic pop music critique \u201cVox Lux,\u201d with Natalie Portman (a $27,000 per-theatre average in six theatres).<\/p>\n

To commemorate the 25th anniversary of Steven Spielberg’s \u201cSchindler’s List,\u201d Universal re-released the Holocaust epic in 1,029 theatres. But it failed to turn out large crowds, grossing a modest $551,000.<\/p>\n

Next weekend, the box office is expected to be significantly busier with the release of \u201cSpider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse,\u201d \u201cOnce Upon a Deadpool\u201d and Clint Eastwood’s \u201cThe Mule\u201d and \u201cMortal Engines.\u201d<\/p>\n

Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theatres, according to Comscore. Where available, the latest international numbers for Friday through Sunday are also included.<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. \u201cRalph Breaks the Internet,\u201d $16.1 million.<\/li>\n
  2. \u201cThe Grinch,\u201d $15.2 million ($25.9 million international).<\/li>\n
  3. \u201cCreed II,\u201d $10.3 million ($5.2 million international).<\/li>\n
  4. \u201cFantastic Beasts: Crimes of Grindelwald,\u201d $6.8 million ($22 million international).<\/li>\n
  5. \u201cBohemian Rhapsody,\u201d $6 million ($29.2 million international).<\/li>\n
  6. \u201cInstant Family,\u201d $5.6 million ($1.7 million international).<\/li>\n
  7. \u201cGreen Book,\u201d $3.9 million.<\/li>\n
  8. \u201cRobin Hood,\u201d $3.6 million ($7.5 million international).<\/li>\n
  9. \u201cPossession of Hannah Grace,\u201d $3.2 million ($4.8 million international).<\/li>\n
  10. \u201cWidows,\u201d $3.1 million ($4.5 million international).<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    \u2014\u2014\u2014<\/p>\n

    Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at international theatres (excluding the U.S. and Canada), according to Comscore:<\/p>\n

      \n
    1. \u201cAquaman,\u201d $93.6 million.<\/li>\n
    2. \u201cBohemian Rhapsody,\u201d $29.2 million.<\/li>\n
    3. \u201cThe Grinch,\u201d $25.9 million.<\/li>\n
    4. \u201cFantastic Beasts: Crimes of Grindelwald,\u201d $22 million.<\/li>\n
    5. \u201cRalph Breaks the Internet,\u201d $18 million.<\/li>\n
    6. \u201cNutcracker and the Four Realms,\u201d $8 million.<\/li>\n
    7. \u201cRobin Hood,\u201d $7.5 million.<\/li>\n
    8. \u201cA Cool Fish,\u201d $6.9 million.<\/li>\n
    9. \u201cDoor Lock,\u201d $5.3 million.<\/li>\n
    10. \u201cCreed II,\u201d $5.2 million.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

      NEW YORK \u2014 In the calm before the Christmas storm at the box office, \u201cRalph Breaks the Internet\u201d remained No. …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":44,"featured_media":191121,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,106],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-193291","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","category-hollywood","mauthors-jake-coyle","mauthors-the-associated-press"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/193291","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/44"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=193291"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/193291\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/191121"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=193291"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=193291"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=193291"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}