Box Office Roundup: Audiences Have a Soft Spot For ‘The Upside’ |

Each week on Atom Insider, we break down the box office numbers for all of the biggest films opening in theaters. This week found feel-good movies outpacing the rest, and, naturally, the King of the Seven Seas still going strong.

This Week’s Top Earner: ‘The Upside’

The inspirational remake of The Intouchables didn’t make quite as much money as its wealthy central character played by Bryan Cranston, but one thing is for sure: moviegoers still have a heart for Kevin Hart, despite his recent Oscar drama. The STX film (which was delayed a year after the Harvey Weinstein reckoning) did better than expected with an estimated $19.5 million domestically.

That means The Upside has dethroned Aquaman as the biggest film of the week. Reviews have been tepid at best, and the film will need to continue doing well for the next month to be a real profitable winner for the studio. But it’s looking like the decision to recapture the box office magic of this “based-on-a-true-story” French film (and make it PG-13) was a smart one after all.

Second Place: ‘Aquaman’

The unlikely king of the box office for December has slowed down a bit stateside ($17 million), but the real story is how vigorously Aquaman is cleaning up overseas. As we predicted, this standalone blockbuster has now become the next billion-dollar franchise for Warner Bros. and the first DCEU film to reach these heights since The Dark Knight Rises in 2012.

Aquaman brought in over $27.9 million internationally this weekend, pushing its overall totals to just slightly over $1 billion. It’s only $60 million away from being the biggest DC film of all time, not adjusting for inflation.

And Third: ‘A Dog’s Way Home’

Sony’s family adventure film scored better reviews and audience scores than their last walk with A Dog’s Purpose (2017), but it’s unclear whether or not A Dog’s Way Home will be as big a hit. The film brought in a modest $11.3 million domestically, which means it will be profitable within the next week or two off its reported $18 million budget. But A Dog’s Purpose went on to make $204 million globally off of only a slightly larger budget ($22 million). We’re still waiting to see how A Dog’s Way Home does overseas before claiming this old dog has no new tricks.

Rounding Out The Rest Of The Box Office

Once again, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse has made #4 for the box office this week, with only a small drop to $9 million despite losing almost 400 theaters, which may or may not be due to all the awards season buzz it’s getting, including winning the Golden Globe for Best Animated Picture. The delightful but sadly underrated Bumblebee is still faring very well overseas with another $35 million, but its $6.7 million domestic take dropped it to #7 this week behind Escape Room and Mary Poppins Returns, which each brought in $8.9 million and $7.2 million respectively.

On the Basis of Sex expanded to more theaters this week and reached the #8 spot with $6.2 million, which puts it ahead of The Mule at #9 with $5.5 million and Vice at $3.2 million. All three films will compete to stay on the Top 10 once Glass arrives next weekend.

Ralph Breaks the Internet finally fell out of the Top 10 this week with just $2.2 million, wrapping up a largely impressive run for the Disney animated film. Second Act dropped as well to #16, but it too has proven to be a decent hit for STX, making $50.9 million off a modest $16 million budget.

Holmes and Watson has less to brag about. The Sony comedy only brought in $555,000 this week and is now at #21 in its third weekend, largely due to losing well over 1,700 theaters. The film has a worldwide total of $37 million, just under its reported budget of $42 million.

Check back with Atom Insider later this week as we preview all the new releases hitting theaters this Friday. In the meantime, you can get tickets to every movie currently in theaters here.