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 "Glass" added another $9.5 million, enough to top box office
charts as newcomer "Miss Bala," a drug-cartel drama starring
Gina Rodriguez misfired with $6.7 million from 2,203 venues.
With this weekend's bounty, "Glass" has made $88 million in
North America.
Revenues in North America topped out at $71 million, according
to Comscore, marking the lowest haul for a Super Bowl weekend in
almost 20 years. The biggest weekend in football traditionally
slows ticket sales at multiplexes, but a dearth of new
high-profile releases brought back the worst returns since 2000.
A polar vortex across the midwest and northeast didn't exactly
help business. As temperatures dropped below negative 50 degrees
in some portions of the country, moviegoers opted to stay posted
indoors and away from their local movie theater.
Rodriguez, best known for starring in the CW series "Jane the
Virgin," debuted in third place as "Miss Bala" struggled to
entice audiences. Directed by "Twilight" helmer Catherine
Hardwicke, "Miss Bala" is based on the popular 2011 Mexican
crime movie. The film came in at the lower end of expectations,
though the studio was bracing for a slower start given the
expected competition from the Super Bowl. Given its $15 million
production budget, "Miss Bala" will need to pick up steam during
its theatrical run to get in the black. Sony anticipates that
"Miss Bala" will get a box office boost heading into Presidents'
Day weekend.
STXfilms and Lantern Entertainment's "The Upside" landed in
second place, bringing in a solid $8.8 million in its fourth
weekend of release. The feel-good drama starring Kevin Hart and
Bryan Cranston has now generated $75.5 million at the domestic
box office. Overseas, "The Upside" has pocketed $7.6 million to
date for a global total of $83.2 million.
A pair of superhero flicks rounded out the top five. Warner
Bros.' "Aquaman" landed at No. 4 with $4.7 million, while Sony's
"Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse" fell not far behind with
$4.4 million. "Aquaman," the latest comic-book adventure from
DC's Extended Universe, has now earned $323.5 million in North
America and a massive $1.1 billion worldwide. The cartooned
web-slinging adventure "Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse" has
generated $175 million in its 12 weeks of release, earning the
distinction as Sony's highest-grossing animated movie.
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Elsewhere, Universal's "Green Book" continues to see an awards
season boost. The road-trip drama starring Viggo Mortensen and
Mahershala Ali picked up another $4.3 million this weekend for a
domestic tally of $55.8 million. The movie played in 2,648
locations, marking its widest release to date.
Warner Bros.' World War I documentary directed by Peter Jackson,
"They Shall Not Grow Old," also saw a bump in sales, earning
$2.4 million for a total of $10.7 million.
On the indie front, Bleecker Street opened "Arctic" in four
locations. The drama about a man (Mads Mikkelsen) who gets
stranded in the Arctic after a plane crash brought in $56,463
for a per-screen average of $14,116.
There are always exceptions to every rule, and young adult
titles geared toward female moviegoers like "Hannah Montana and
Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert" and "Dear John" proved
that the right movie could still pull off a solid start over the
Super Bowl weekend. Each saw debuts over $30 million during the
same weekends in 2008 and 2010. But more often than not, studios
avoid any potential competition that a massive football
championship might bring. As a result, ticket sales are down 25
percent compared to the same frame in 2018, when "Jumanji:
Welcome to the Jungle" was the top film in North America. The
year to date box office is also struggling after a dismal
January. The domestic market dropped over 15 percent from 2018,
according to Comscore. That could turn around next weekend when
"The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part" hits the big screen.
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