'Aquaman' Scores A Huge Thursday Night As We Enter The Most Crowded Box Office Weekend Of The Entire Year

We’ve been waiting for today for months now. No, not because it’s the beginning of a long weekend thanks to the Christmas holiday. That’s great and all, but mainly, it’s because this is one of the most interesting box office weekends of 2018. In an effort to try to take advantage of the holiday stretch, Disney, Warner Bros., Paramount, and other studios are releasing major films all during this weekend, leading to one of the most hotly-contested box offices in recent memory.

Disney struck first with “Mary Poppins Returns,” which debuted Wednesday after critical acclaim and awards discussion. The long-awaited sequel has earned $8.8 million over the first two days and is expected to pull a three-day weekend total somewhere in the range of $20 million to $25 million. That’s a little less than what has been predicted before this week, but it’s not a bad start for a film that will surely do incredibly well over Monday and Tuesday, when families go to the movies.

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One potential cause for ‘Poppins’ turning in a possible disappointing weekend is James Wan’sAquaman.” The superhero film was predicted to earn less than any other DCEU film in its first three days, potentially as low as $45 million for the weekend. But with strong word-of-mouth (not coming from me) and an ad campaign that seems to be striking a chord with audiences, “Aquaman” is expected to earn a three-day total hovering around $75 million and potentially more, especially after the strong Thursday night previews that pulled in an estimated $9 million (plus the $4 million from last weekend’s sneak preview).

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The biggest casualty of the weekend (of the major releases, that is) is expected to be Paramount’s “Transformers” reboot “Bumblebee.” The big budget blockbuster has been getting the best reviews of any film in the franchise (by a large margin) and could have been a surprise contender against the fish man and the nanny. However, with a predicted $18 million to maybe $22 million, “Bumblebee” is going to struggle to keep pace and earn a profit for Paramount.

READ MORE: ‘Bumblebee’: ’80s Nostalgia Fuels A Comeback For The ‘Transformers’ Series [Review]

“Bumblebee” should also watch its back because “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse” is expected to nip at the robot’s heels in its second weekend, pulling in close to $20 million. We’ll see how much the film suffers from strong competition, but with raving reviews from audiences and critics alike, ‘Spider-Verse’ should survive the box office battleground.

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Outside of those four major tentpole films, there are quite a few other films hoping to get their slice of the holiday box office pie. “Welcome to Marwen” is getting ravaged by critics, but has the star power to perhaps earn a decent amount. “Second Act” is a comedy starring Jennifer Lopez that most people have already forgotten existed. And then we have two Oscar hopefuls, “The Favourite” and “Mary Queen of Scots” both opening in almost 1,000 locations.

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Needless to say, there’s going to be plenty to choose from at the multiplex this weekend, especially if you need to sneak away from the fam. Plus, let’s not forget that Christmas Day brings “Vice,” “Destroyer,” and others in limited release. Hell, if you play your cards right, you can just spend the holidays in the theater and not have to worry about all that Christmas craziness at all.