Aquaman has earned $67.4M in its opening weekend at the domestic box office. The film also earned $4.7M in preview screenings before its official North American debut. That gives Aquaman a domestic total of $72.1M heading into the Christmas holiday.
The $67.4M three-day opening is short of some ambitious projections, but it is in line with industry tracking. Setting aside the technicality that December 15 and 19 preview showings don’t count toward the opening weekend, basic sense tells us that the people who saw Aquaman early would have seen it this weekend if they had to wait.
Effectively, Aquaman has opened to $72.1M in North America, which does put it in the $70M-$75M range many were projecting. This is a very good start for a standalone franchise debut, especially for a character that isn’t as much of a known commodity to general audiences, outside of being the butt of many jokes.
Exhibitor Relations reports that Aquaman is now up to $482M worldwide, including its domestic gross. It will pass $500M within a couple of days. The “A-” CinemaScore suggests word-of-mouth will give the movie strong enough legs to stay afloat in North America for some time.
Aquaman is a hit and now it’s just a matter of how high it can go globally.
SOURCE: Deadline
