It looks like theKevin HartOscars controversyhasn’t affected the upside of, uh,The Upside, as the dramedy starring Hart andBryan Cranstonis rolling right out of the gates to exceed expectations. The film, directed byNeil Burgerfrom a script byPaul Feig, took in $6.9 million on Friday night, headed toward a well-above-expectations $18-20 million debut.Aquaman, which has ruled the box office since its December 21 premiere, has finally been dethroned, surfing to second place on Friday night with $4.5 million.
It’s been a long road to the theater forThe Upside, which originally had a home at The Weinstein Company; Lantern bought the film’s assets when Weinstein went belly up, but eventually sold the film again to STX Entertainment, which re-tooled the movie to get a PG-13 rating. A remake of the 2011 French filmThe Intouchables,The Upsidestars Bryan Cranston as a paraplegic billionaire who hires an ex-con, Hart’s Dell Scott, as a caretaker. Many valuable lessons are learned.
Aquamanisn’t exactly sulking over its second-place finish, though.James Wan’s DC epic starringJason Momoaas undersea king Arthur Curry will certainly cross the billion-dollar mark at the worldwide box office this weekend, the first of Warner Bros.' DC Comics movies to do so. The film ended Friday night with a worldwide total of $988.6 million.
Meanwhile, theKeanu Reeves-starring sci-fi filmReplicascouldn’t crack a million dollars in its first Friday night, hauling in just $950,000 from 2,329 locations, a new career low for a Reeves film opening on more than 1,000 screens. The other major release of the weekend, Sony’sA Dog’s Way Home, fared far better. The film, which stars Bryce Dallas Howard as the voice of the titular dog finding its titular way home, nabbed $3.3 million on Friday night, good enough for third.
Take a look at Friday’s numbers below and check back tomorrow for full weekend estimates. (Numbers viaBox Office Mojo)
The Upside
$6,950,000
$4,560,000
$275,156,781
A Dog’s Way Home
$3,300,000
Escape Room
$2,650,000
$26,182,931
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse
$2,200,000
$140,975,445
