Box office: ‘Aquaman’ keeps the box office crown as ‘Mary Poppins Returns’ sings to No. 2

The fish man did it again. Raking in $51.6 million in its second weekend, Warner Bros.’ blockbuster adventure “Aquaman,� directed by James Wan and starring Jason Momoa as the DC Comics superhero, topped the post-Christmas box office to keep the No. 1 crown, according to estimates from measurement firm Comscore.

Holiday crowds hungered for Momoa’s groundbreaking Aquaman, propelling the CG undersea action picture to $188.8 million domestically. Boasting an A-minus CinemaScore, the film’s global take has reached nearly $750 million.

Eating up the holiday ticket sales in a record-setting year at the box office, the movie dropped just 29% from last week’s $72.1-million debut. It has already bested the total worldwide performances of DC predecessors “Suicide Squad� ($746.8 million), “Man of Steel� ($668 million) and “Justice League� ($657.9 million), the installment that introduced Momoa’s aquatic hero.

Hollywood sails to a box-office record, thanks to ‘Black Panther’ and other hits »

Fast approaching the $100-million mark despite falling short of analyst and studio projections, Disney’s musical “Mary Poppins Returns� entered its second weekend with something to sing about, taking in $28 million, up 19% from its $22.2-million opening for a $98.9 million-domestic accumulation.

Imaginative family-friendly visuals and the power of Emily Blunt in the title role helped “Mary Poppins Returns� hold a firm second-place position in the final moviegoing days of 2018 as last week’s top five performers repeated their rankings, with a few new and notable indies joining the fray.

Sitting in third place is the delightful Paramount spinoff “Bumblebee,� the latest addition to the “Transformers� franchise, which notched an additional $20.5 million for a two-week domestic take of $66.8 million.

Hailee Steinfeld anchors the 1980s-set adventure about a rad teenage girl and her Autobot, which claimed an impressive mere 5% drop; at 93% on Rotten Tomatoes, the female-led installment battling it out against tough superhero competition is by far the best-reviewed film in the “Transformers� series.

Making an even stronger case that diversity sells at the box office is Sony’s “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse,� a dynamic new spin on the Marvel Comics lore that has garnered critical plaudits. Golden Globe-nominated for animated feature, it scored the No. 4 slot with an additional $18.3 million in its third week in release.

Audiences have sprung for “Into the Spider-Verse,� which stars Shameik Moore as Miles Morales, an Afro-Latino Brooklyn teenager who takes up the Spider-mantle. The innovative animated adventure produced by “Lego Movie� duo Phil Lord and Chris Miller has tallied a $103.6-million domestic total, pushing past $200 million worldwide.

Notching $11.8 million more to hold onto fifth place is Clint Eastwood’s “The Mule,� starring the director himself as an octogenarian who takes a job running drugs for a Mexican cartel. Eastwood’s 37th film as director has now earned a North American total of $60.73 million.

Riding high off six Golden Globe nods, director Adam McKay’s razor-edged Dick Cheney dramedy “Vice� opened Christmas Day and earned $7.8 million this weekend to take the No. 6 spot. Christian Bale disappears into his role of the former vice president in the politically charged pic from Oscar-winner McKay, which brings its tally to $17.7 million.

Upending Arthur Conan Doyle’s most famous literary creation with Will Ferrell as the crack London detective and John C. Reilly as his faithful BFF, “Holmes & Watson� opened Christmas Day to dismal reviews and reports of walkouts. Nevertheless, the movie enjoyed a $7.3-million weekend for a total of $19.7 million.

Lovers of the romantic comedy genre pushed the Jennifer Lopez vehicle “Second Act� to the No. 8 slot, as it took in $7.2 million, bringing its total to $21.8 million in its second weekend, while kiddie fare “Ralph Breaks the Internet� and “The Grinch� rounded out the top 10 with $6.5 million and $4.2 million, respectively.

Elsewhere, Reliance Entertainment’s Bollywood import “Simmba� scored $1.7 million from 300 locations in its first week, while Focus Features’ Ruth Bader Ginsberg film “On the Basis of Sex� (the second picture this year centered on the U.S. Supreme Court justice, following the hit documentary “RBG�) made $690,000 with a weekend-best $20,909 per-screen average, totaling $1.5 million for its three-day after opening on Christmas.

Strong women made for robust screen averages for Annapurna Pictures as Karyn Kusama’s crime thriller “Destroyer,� starring Nicole Kidman as a cop chasing ghosts from her past, collared $19,491 per screen in just three locations for a $58,472 weekend, taking in $116,000 to date. Also from Annapurna, Barry Jenkins’ critically acclaimed “If Beale Street Could Talk� jumped nearly 600% as it expanded from five to 65 locations in its third week, taking in $759,579 for a total just shy of $2 million.

[email protected]

@jenyamato