While the Stateside box office has been dominated in the last few weeks by a certain watery superhero, there was a surprise new entry at the top of this charts this weekend. Bryan Cranston/Kevin Hart comedy remake The Upside fought off some middling/terrible reviews to emerge the new champ with $19.5 million, according to studio estimates.
The film, a remake of 2011 French heart-warmer Les Intouchables, rode a box office that is still relatively quiet in the early January period to nab the crown. Aquaman, which had been ruling for three weeks, was finally deposed to second, though it still earned $17.2 million and has made it past $287 million in the US alone. Worldwide, the story is even more positive, as it swam past the $1 billion mark and has become the second-highest-grossing film for Warner Bros., after The Dark Knight Rises.
Third place was one of the week's other new arrivals, A Dog's Way Home, looking to snatch a slightly younger audience with its treacly story of a pooch finding... well, you can guess. It took in $11.3 million. Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse, buoyed by healthy word of mouth and a smattering of award prizes, jump up a place to fourth, adding $9 million for $147.7 million in the States, a figure that should really be much higher. Fifth was Escape Room, making off with $8.9 million.
Mary Poppins Returns saw her umbrella flight dip three places down to sixth, earning $7.2 million, while Bumblebee fell to seventh on $6.7 million. Arriving in the top 10 after expanding its platform release, Ruth Bader Ginsberg drama On The Basis Of Sex added 1,811 screens and earned $6.2 million in eighth place.
The Mule continued to saunter on, taking $5.5 million in ninth place and making it past $90 million in just the US. Vice, meanwhile, dropped a couple of places to 10th and made $3.2 million. One movie that couldn't crack the top 10 despite a 2,329 screen release was long-delayed Keanu Reeves sci-fi pic Replicas. With little in the way of promotion, it landed 12th with $2.5 million.
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