Topping the Box Office for the third straight weekend was “Aquaman,” adding another $31 million to its domestic total. The underwater hero has now earned $940 million worldwide, making the film the highest grossing worldwide release in the DC Extended Universe. Coming in second, domestically, was the new release of “Escape Room,” which earned $18.2 million on a $9 million production budget, making it quite the successful debut. The rest of the Top Five included “Mary Poppins Returns” with $15.8 million, “Bumblebee” with $13.2 million, and “Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse,” which won Best Animated Film at the Golden Globes, with $13.1 million. The only other pressing news within the Top Ten was “Holmes & Watson” falling three spots, from Number Seven to Number Ten. Hanging on to the POPCORN AWARD for the second straight weekend was “On The Basis Of Sex,” which earned an average of 14,370 in 112 theaters. Also hanging on to the GOLDEN PERCENTAGE AWARD was “If Beale Street Could Talk,” which saw Regina King earn a Golden Globe win for her supporting role in the film and had an increase at the Box Office of +140.6%.
Most of the major awards films saw an increase within the List this weekend, with “If Beale Street Could Talk,” “Bohemian Rhapsody,” and “A Star Is Born” moving up spots, while “Green Book” stayed put at Number 15 for the third weekend in a row. Not fairing so well were “The Grinch” and “Welcome To Marwen,” which each fell seven spots. The only film falling off the List this weekend was “Mortal Engines” in its fourth weekend, earning only $220,495 and sitting at a loss of $84.2 million domestically against its $100 million production budget. Its drop was also enough to give it the biggest decrease of the weekend, pulling in a -78.5% downfall.
With a slightly closer race coming next weekend, “Aquaman” could be seated to take the throne for one more weekend if it stays above a 50% drop, meaning a $15.5 million fourth weekend. The debuting family film “A Dog’s Way Home” is eyeing a $13 million opening weekend, so as long it doesn’t over perform and “Aquaman” under perform, a second place finish is more than likely. Aiming for a $12 million and third place is the Bryan Cranston and Kevin Hart film “The Upside.” Plus, the new Keanu Reeves/Alice Eve sci-fi film “Replicas” aims for a $3.5 million opening, putting it somewhere in the Top Ten and the animated sequel “Norm of the North: Keys To The Kingdom” could see a spot on the List, as the original earned $6.8 million in its opening weekend. Expect the Golden Globes bump continue, with films like “Green Book” and “Bohemian Rhapsody” continue to either climb or to relatively stay put. “On The Basis Of Sex” missed out on most of the awards buzz, but with an expansion next weekend, expect it too to continue to climb. Making room for the four newcomers, “Ben Is Back” and “Shoplifters” will likely be falling off the List, as they’ve missed the awards buzz of the most part. I also would not be surprised to see “Welcome To Marwen” take the final plunge on its less-than-desirable theatrical run after only its fourth weekend. And lastly, the Bollywood film “Simmba” was a surprise on the List in the first place and could see the end of its run as well.
BOX OFFICE KING: “Aquaman”
BOX OFFICE QUEEN: “Escape Room”
POPCORN AWARD*: “On The Basis Of Sex”
GOLDEN PERCENTAGE AWARD**: “If Beale Street Could Talk”
| # | Title | Weekend | Total | Budget | Week | LW | CH |
| 1 | Aquaman (WB) | $31,003,280 | ($260,024,160) | $200m* | 3rd | #1 |  |
| 2 | Escape Room (Sony) |
$18,238,172 | ($18,238,172) | $9m | 1st | N | |
| 3 | Mary Poppins Returns (BV) | $15,860,957 | ($138,817,262) | $130m | 3rd | #2 |  |
| 4 | Bumblebee (Par) | $13,202,603 | ($97,555,743) | $135m | 3rd | #3 | |
| 5 | Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse (Sony) | $13,126,885 | ($133,978,231) | $90m | 4th | #4 | |
| 6 | The Mule (WB) | $9,109,693 | ($81,177,803) | $50m | 4th | #5 | |
| 7 | Vice (AP) | $5,734,509 | ($29,727,497) | $60m* | 2nd | #6 | |
| 8 | Second Act (STX) | $4,755,291 | ($32,792,366) | $16m | 3rd | #8 | |
| 9 | Ralph Breaks the Internet (BV) | $4,673,522 | ($187,152,693) | $175m | 7th | #9 | |
| 10 | Holmes & Watson (Sony) | $3,302,827 | ($28,313,749) | $42m | 2nd | #7 | |
| 11 | Bohemian Rhapsody (Fox) | $2,368,141 | ($193,644,966) | $52m | 10th | #13 |  |
| 12 | Mary Queen of Scots (Focus) | $2,146,860 | ($13,424,885) | $25m* | 5th | #11 | |
| 13 | The Favourite (FoxS) | $1,903,292 | ($19,297,628) | $15m* | 7th | #12 | |
| 14 | If Beale Street Could Talk (AP) | $1,843,384 | ($4,409,248) | $12m* | 4th | #21 |  |
| 15 | Green Book (Uni) | $1,807,575 | ($35,230,831) | $23m | 8th | #15 | |
| 16 | On The Basis Of Sex (Focus) | $1,609,454 | ($3,707,849) | ** | 2nd | #22 |  |
| 17 | The Grinch (Uni) | $1,168,395 | ($269,622,130) | $75m | 9th | #10 | |
| 18 | Simmba (RelBig) | $1,005,087 | ($4,115,790) | $11m* | 2nd | #16 | |
| 19 | Creed II (MGM) | $922,650 | ($114,296,602) | $50m* | 7th | #17 | |
| 20 | Instant Family (Par) | $702,529 | ($66,212,557) | $48m | 8th | #20 | |
| 21 | Welcome to Marwen (Uni) | $681,790 | ($10,406,625) | $39m | 3rd | #14 | |
| 22 | A Star Is Born (WB) | $634,230 | ($202,110,097) | $36m | 14th | #24 | |
| 23 | Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald (WB) | $626,219 | ($158,034,792) | $200m | 8th | #19 | |
| 24 | Ben Is Back (RAtt) | $327,730 | ($2,511,842) | $13m* | 5th | #23 | |
| 25 | Shoplifters (Mag) | $254,034 | ($1,646,805) | ** | 7th | #25 | |
<<<ALL DOMESTIC NUMBERS FROM BOX OFFICE MOJO>>>>
OFF THE CHARTS THIS WEEK
| Title | Dom / World | Budget | Weeks | Highest | NOTE |
| Mortal Engines (Uni) | $15,767,725 ($69,467,725) |
$100m | 4th | #5 | (-$84.2m) (-$30.5m) |
(OFFICIALLY CLOSED)
*POPCORN AWARD goes to the highest per theater average within the Top 25 List
**GOLDEN PERCENTAGE AWARD goes to the highest increase within the Top 25 List
