Aquaman v Spider-Verse | Box Office Report 14-16th Dec 2018

Posted on by Joseph Wade

It was the battle of the comic book superheroes at the top of the UK Box Office Chart this past weekend (14-16th Dec ’18) as DC’s Aquaman took on Marvel’s Sony-produced Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse for the top spot. Find out which film took the top spot in our top 5 chart video (and see the full chart below!):

News from the Top 5

DC/Warner Bros release Aquaman actually performed worse than its 2017 brethren, with its total of £5.2million being beaten by both Wonder Woman (£6.2m) and Justice League (£7.3m).

It’s not all bad news however, as the release has thus far grossed close to $300million worldwide (thanks in large to its massive popularity in China) before it has even been released in North America, all but guaranteeing a financial success for the studio.

Sony Pictures Animation release Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse has proven to be less successful, failing to match previous Sony Pictures Animation releases Hotel Transylvania 3 and Peter Rabbit in terms of opening weekend gross. It will be hoping it has more of a say heading into 2019 once the Christmas rush to see films like The Grinch is out of the way.

You can read our review of Into the Spider-Verse here.

Universal’s Illumination Entertainment animated film The Grinch dropped just 13% between weekends to maintain its spot firmly in the top 5 of the chart, leap-frogging Disney Animation juggernaut Ralph Breaks the Internet in the process. It has now topped £20million altogether, but should expect to drop off the cliff following Christmas next week.

Peter Jackson’s Mortal Engines looks set to be a huge flop for Universal. The film debuted to £1.3million here in the UK, but over £1million of that came in previews, indicating that there’s not a good word of mouth regarding the film, while in North America, the fantasy film debuted to just $7.5million, a woeful return on the $100million budget. It currently stands below $43million worldwide and would need to at least quadruple that in the coming weeks to break even once production and advertising costs are taken into account, ensuring that this film is all-but guaranteed to lose a lot of money for the studio.

The top 15 UK box office chart for the weekend 14-16th December 2018:

  1. 1. Aquaman (1) – £5.2m (£5.2m)
  2. Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse (1) – £2.3m (£2.3m)
  3. The Grinch (6) – £1.7m (£21.7m)
  4. Wreck-It Ralph 2 (3) – £1.4m (£9.3m)
  5. Mortal Engines (1) – £1.3m (£1.3m)
  6. Creed II (3) – £750k (£7.4m)
  7. Fantastic Beasts 2 (5) – £701k (£30.5m)
  8. Bohemian Rhapsody (8) – £537k (£45.1m)
  9. Free Solo (1) – £387k (£387k)
  10. Met Opera: La Traviata (1) – £275k (£275k)
  11. Nativity Rocks! (4) – £233k (£2.2m)
  12. CBeebies: Thumbelina (1) – £196k (£196k)
  13. It’s a Wonderful Life (1) – £115k (£115k)
  14. The Old Man & the Gun (2) – £103k (£629k)
  15. Disney’s The Nutcracker (7) – £97k (£5.4m)

Free Solo has become one of the year’s biggest documentary hits with a £387k opening.

The overall market was down 52% this weekend on the same weekend last year (as that weekend saw the release of The Last Jedi).

Set for release this weekend: Mary Poppins Returns



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