Saturday Update: Significantly over-performing against pre-release tracking, The Upside scored a strong $6.95 million opening day on Friday and is now positioned to dethrone Aquaman as the #1 film in the country for the weekend. As STX’s 25th release in studio history, such a finish would make it the first time one of their films has debuted at the top of the box office. The film bested Book Club‘s $4.8 million first day take by 45 percent and The Intern‘s $6.2 million by nearly 12 percent. Boxoffice projects a weekend finish close to $19 million.
Moving into second place, Aquaman added $4.56 million on Friday, down a sharper-than-expected 51 percent from last Friday. Domestically, the DC blockbuster has earned $275.2 million and appears headed for a fourth frame around $15.8 million. Overseas, the pic took in another $5.7 million yesterday, giving it $713.4 million internationally. The global total stands at $988.6 million through Friday and will cross the $1 billion benchmark sometime on Saturday.
Sony’s A Dog’s Way Home opened to $3.3 million on Friday, about 37 percent less than A Dog’s Purpose ($5.3 million) two years ago. The family-driven adaptation could see a strong multiple over the weekend. The studio projects an $11 million frame, while our internal projections are a bit more optimistic at $12 million. Barring major weekend jumps, the film seems to have slightly over-tracked compared to Dog’s Purpose, but still has a window for staying power.
Escape Room ($2.65 million) and Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse ($2.2 million) finished off the top five yesterday, followed by the wide expansion of On the Basis of Sex. That film pulled $2.14 million from 1,923 locations and could bring in around $6.5 million this weekend.
Meanwhile, Replicas took in $950K on opening day Friday — comparable to Hotel Artemis ($1.1 million) and The Hurricane Heist ($947K). Its weekend tally should land close to $3 million.
Early weekend estimates are below. Updated studio estimates will follow on Sunday.
Early Weekend Estimates (Domestic)
FRI, JAN. 11 – SUN, JAN. 13
| # | TITLE | WEEKEND | LOCATIONS | AVG. | TOTAL | WKS. | DIST. | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Upside | $19,000,000 | — | 3,080 | — | $6,169 | $19,000,000 | 1 | STX Entertainment |
| 2 | Aquaman | $15,800,000 | -49% | 3,863 | -321 | $4,090 | $286,396,781 | 5 | Warner Bros. |
| 3 | A Dog’s Way Home | $12,000,000 | — | 3,090 | — | $3,884 | $12,000,000 | 1 | Sony Pictures |
| 4 | Escape Room | $8,300,000 | -54% | 2,717 | 0 | $3,055 | $31,832,931 | 2 | Sony Pictures |
| 5 | Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse | $7,500,000 | -43% | 3,029 | -390 | $2,476 | $146,275,445 | 5 | Sony / Columbia |
| 6 | On The Basis Of Sex | $6,500,000 | 304% | 1,923 | 1811 | $3,380 | $10,831,847 | 3 | Focus Features |
| 7 | Mary Poppins Returns | $6,000,000 | -62% | 3,253 | -837 | $1,844 | $149,441,985 | 4 | Disney |
| 8 | Bumblebee | $5,900,000 | -55% | 3,303 | -294 | $1,786 | $107,594,977 | 4 | Paramount Pictures |
| 9 | The Mule | $5,800,000 | -36% | 3,329 | 117 | $1,742 | $90,833,396 | 5 | Warner Bros. |
| 10 | Vice | $3,700,000 | -35% | 1,724 | -810 | $2,146 | $36,357,843 | 3 | Annapurna |
| 11 | Bohemian Rhapsody | $3,100,000 | 31% | 1,334 | 254 | $2,324 | $198,396,306 | 11 | 20th Century Fox |
| 12 | Replicas | $3,000,000 | — | 2,329 | — | $1,288 | $3,000,000 | 1 | Entertainment Studios Motion Pictures |
| 13 | If Beale Street Could Talk | $2,500,000 | 36% | 1,018 | 683 | $2,456 | $7,799,425 | 5 | Annapurna |
| 14 | Ralph Breaks the Internet | $1,600,000 | -66% | 1,554 | -496 | $1,030 | $189,835,603 | 8 | Disney |
| 15 | Holmes and Watson | $575,000 | -83% | 1,013 | -1767 | $568 | $30,045,153 | 4 | Sony Pictures |
| # | TITLE | WEEKEND | LOCATIONS | AVG. | TOTAL | WKS. | DIST. | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Green Book | $2,200,000 | 22% | 742 | 176 | $2,965 | $38,660,706 | 9 | Universal Pictures |
| 2 | The Favourite | $1,100,000 | -42% | 512 | -259 | $2,148 | $21,473,182 | 8 | Fox Searchlight |
| 3 | A Star is Born | $1,100,000 | 73% | 394 | 126 | $2,792 | $203,556,149 | 15 | Warner Bros. |
| 4 | Creed II | $275,000 | -70% | 355 | -538 | $775 | $114,873,733 | 8 | MGM / Warner Bros |
| 5 | The Nutcracker and the Four Realms | $31,000 | -66% | 110 | -62 | $282 | $54,842,620 | 11 | Walt Disney Pictures |
| # | TITLE | WEEKEND | LOCATIONS | AVG. | TOTAL | WKS. | DIST. | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Destroyer | $170,000 | 73% | 27 | 21 | $6,296 | $444,518 | 3 | Annapurna Pictures |
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Friday Report: STX’s The Upside is out front early among the weekend’s new releases, taking in a healthy $1.1 million from 2,460 locations last night. That compares favorably with titles like Instant Family ($550K), Book Club ($625K), Game Night ($1.0 million), Kevin Hart: What Now? ($740K), and The Intern ($650K). The dramedy starring Bryan Cranston and Kevin Hart expands to 3,080 locations today. If post-Thursday evening performance holds up in line with those titles, Upside is looking to over-perform studio expectations with a potential opening weekend in the mid-teen millions.
Sony’s A Dog’s Way Home also started off in positive fashion with $535K from 2,657 locations at 5pm last night. That’s 16 percent ahead of A Dog’s Purpose ($460K), whose first shows began at 6pm in 2,255 locations two years ago. A mid-teen millions weekend remains likely based on our current projections, north of the studio’s conservative expectations.
Meanwhile, Replicas bowed to $200K from 7pm onward at 1,630 locations last night. That’s comparable to Hotel Artemis ($271K from 1,800 locations).
At this time, Aquaman remains expected to win the weekend for a fourth straight frame — although Upside and Dog have outside shots if they over-perform our earlier forecasts starting today.
Follow Boxoffice for continued updates and the first full slate of weekend estimates on Saturday morning.
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