Warner Bros. was very smart with “Aquaman.” Still not open in the U.S., the DC Universe underwater extravaganza will cross $200 million this weekend– and it’s not even open in the United States.
Rather than risk another box office disaster with a DC Comics movie, WB went the international route. They’ve cleaned up in China and a few other exotic locales before submerging into domestic waters.
“Aquaman” has a tepid 70% on Rotten Tomatoes– initial exultations calmed down quite a bit. So releasing away from snarky Americans was a good idea. Now they can roll into our theaters next week and not worry about what anyone thinks.
Meanwhile, Sony is scoring a $30 mi plus weekend with “Spider Man: Into the Spider Verse.” That’s good because the total budget is $100 million, they have a ways to go. But it’s all going to have a happy ending. This will balance out the sting of Hugh Jackman’s Jason Reitman-directed “The Front Runner” which is dying with $2 mil in receipts no awards action at all. Sony hasn’t had a great year, but Spidey helps.
