As what many expected, Glass easily remained on top. And it didn't quite collapse like some thought it would. M. Night Shyalaman's trilogy-capper was off 53% in its sophomore frame to $19 million, for a solid $73.6 million gross in 10 days. However, that's not quite as good of a hold as Split, which was only off 36% in its sophomore frame. And that movie has slightly outpaced Glass through the same point by a little bit. However, that's not necessarily a big problem. Next weekend every film loses steam thanks to the Super Bowl, though things should swing back to normal the following week. If I'm distributor Universal, I'm sure they are thankful the budget was small. Glass has been a strong player overseas as well, with $90 million picked up overseas thus far.Repeating in second place, The Upside had a fantastic hold in its third weekend, off just 18% to $12.2 million. In 17 days, Kevin Hart and Bryan Cranston have earned a strong $63.1 million. Could this leg it out to $100 million? The Super Bowl could stop it, but we'll see. Aquaman, meanwhile, also had a strong hold. The superhero blockbuster was off just 28% to $7.4 million, for a very strong $316.6 million gross in six weeks of release. Its' on track to pass the final grosses of Suicide Squad ($325 million) and Batman v. Superman ($330 million) before its' done. It's also about to pass $1.1 billion worldwide.
Meanwhile, in fourth, the first new release didn't succeed in bringing in the family crowd. The Kid Who Would Be King disappointed with a $7.2 million start (weak $2,059 per-venue average). While it had a strong weekend multiplier, there just didn't seem to be enough interest here. I thought it had a chance at double-digits, but apparently the Christmas releases still are pulling in kids. End of January is usually a dumping ground, though distributor Fox (who will soon be acquired by Disney) earned good reviews for this one (audiences gave it a "B+" CinemaScore as well). I wonder if a different release date would have helped. On a $60 million budget, however, it is not in good shape financially. Fox was hoping for a $10 million debut.Even with new PG-rated competition in town, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse still continued to hold like a champ. The possible Best Animated Feature frontrunner at the Oscars was off just 19% to $6.2 million, for a strong $169 million pick-up in 49 days. It's now Sony Animation's biggest movie to date stateside, and is approaching $350 million worldwide.
Coming off a Best Picture Oscar nomination, Green Book re-expanded to 2,400 locations and added some extra business. The historical drama earned $5.4 million in sixth place, for a very good $49 million since its limited start eleven weeks ago. Meanwhile, A Dog's Way Home had a nice hold. The family flick was down 27% to $5.2 million in its third frame, for an OK $30.8 million in 17 days.
Meanwhile, Matthew McConaughey and Anne Hathaway both suffered career-low starts with their drama Serenity. The star-studded flick opened below expectations in eighth place to $4.8 million (weak $1,874 per-venue average). Many thought this would have a hard time getting above $5-6 million. But, reviews were terrible and audiences didn't like it either (D+ CinemaScore). This is looking like it's going to fade pretty fast. On a $25 million budget, this also looks destined to end up in red ink for distributor Aviron Pictures.
Escape Room had a strong hold in its fourth weekend, down just 24% to $4.3 million. Through 24 days, the PG-13 thriller has earned a very successful $47.9 million, and looks like it could end up with perhaps six times its $9 million budget. Sony is definitely off to a good start this year. Rounding out the list after its breakout weekend was Dragon Ball Super: Broly, which plummeted 63% to $3.6 million. That's not surprising considering fans ran out to see it last weekend. But, no need to worry, a $29 million gross in 13 days is still pretty darn great for a movie that didn't get a major marketing push.
And that's about it. With the Super Bowl next weekend, most movies will come down to earth as Hollywood pretty much takes the weekend off. The only new wide release is a female-led action thriller, Miss Bala. It looks like its going to be pretty quiet. Predictions coming Wednesday along with the review of The Kid Who Would Be King. :)
