Box Office Round Up - 1-28-19

The Shyamalanaissance continues! Two years after Split shocked critics and audiences by actually being good, the sequel from M. Night is a hit at the box office as well. The combined starpower of Bruce Willis, Samuel L. Jackson, and the unstoppable James McAvoy brought people out to the frigid winter night and then into the theater. Just put McAvoy in every film franchise out there and thank me later. To think, it feels like just yesterday M. Night was putting out completely unwatchable garbage like The Last Airbender and After Earth. Hopefully, his next movies are surprise sequels to The Sixth Sense and Signs. A guy can dream.

Elsewhere, the Kevin Hart-Bryan Cranston drama The Upside drops to number two, although it does at least turn a profit in the January dead-zone. Who knows what kind of promotion it could have gotten had it not been swept up in the Weinstein drama. Meanwhile, still holding on strong after a month at the marquee is Jason Momoa and James Wan's Aquaman. Despite a lukewarm critical reception, the amphibian crusader has powered through to surpass one billion worldwide, easily claiming the top spot all-time for a DC universe film. It should be no surprise, then, that a sequel is already in the works with Wan once again in the director's chair. If it ain't broke, don't fix it!  
 
Debuting this week is The Kid Who Would Be King, a fantasy adventure film from Joe Cornish that enters at number four. The Attack the Block creator's newest flick sees a young child discover King Arthur's legendary sword Excalibur and must use it to save humanity. On the other end of the spectrum, coming in at a measly eight is the star-studded Serenity, a bonkers thriller with Matthew McConaughey and Anne Hathaway. Critics have savaged it as well, lamenting it's overly serious tone and nonsensical plot twists. Guess it's not alright, alright, alright, man. See you next week!

 
1. Glass ($19 MM)
Director: M. Night Shyamalan (WME)
Writer: M. Night Shyamalan
 
Cast: James McAvoy (UTA)
        Bruce Willis (CAA)
        Samuel L. Jackson (ICM Partners | Anonymous Content)
 
 
2.  The Upside ($12.2 MM)
Director: Neil Burger (CAA | Anonymous Content)
Writer: Jon Hartmere (CAA)
 
Cast: Kevin Hart (UTA | 3 Arts)
        Bryan Cranston (UTA)
        Nicole Kidman (CAA)
 
 
3. Aquaman ($7.3 MM)
Director: James Wan (Paradigm)
Writers: David Leslie Johnson-McGoldrick (Paradigm), Will Beall (CAA)
 
Cast: Jason Momoa (WME)
        Amber Heard (WME)
        Willem Dafoe (CAA)
 
 
4. The Kid Who Would Be King ($7.3 MM)
Director: Joe Cornish (CAA)
Writer: Joe Cornish
 
Cast: Louis Ashbourne Serkis (Lou Colson)
        Tom Taylor (WME)
        Rebecca Ferguson (ICM Partners)
 
 
5. Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse ($6.2 MM)
Directors: Bob Persichetti (UTA), Peter Ramsey (Verve), Rodney Rothman (UTA)
Writers: Phil Lord (UTA), Rodney Rothman
 
Cast: Shameik Moore (CAA)
        Jake Johnson (UTA | 3 Arts)
        Hailee Steinfeld (CAA)