Weekend Box Office Report: January 11-13, 2019

The Upside takes the top!

The king of Atlantis was dethroned by drama at the box office this weekend as THE UPSIDE opened in first place with an estimated $19.5 million!

Featuring Bryan Cranston as a wealthy quadraplegic being cared for by Kevin Hart's ex-convict, the PG-13 movie had a solid performance for a January dramatic release (almost doubling expected figures), edging past the $19.3 million first wide weekend of last year's all-star Oscar-buzzed THE POST.

However, the more serious turn from co-star Kevin Hart unsurprisingly wasn't a match for the openings of his comedic pairings with Ice Cube (RIDE ALONG – $41.5 million; RIDE ALONG 2 – $35.2 million) or Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson (JUMANJI: WELCOME TO THE JUNGLE – $36.1 million; CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE – $35.5 million).

Originally scheduled for release in March 2018, LIMITLESS director Neil Burger's remake of the 2011 French film THE INTOUCHABLES cost a reported $37.5 million.

Critics mostly saw the downside to the two lead actors' attempted chemistry, giving the movie a 40% average on Rotten Tomatoes (the JoBlo review is HERE).

Although ousted from his seat on top of the chart, DC Comics superhero AQUAMAN had plenty of strength left with $17.2 million for second place. Director James Wan's PG-13 ocean adventure has traveled to $287.8 million on its fourth weekend in theaters.

In addition, the first solo story of Jason Momoa's brawny water warrior has hooked a worldwide total of $1.02 billion (with $288 million just from China), overtaking the $1 billion finish of Christopher Nolan's THE DARK KNIGHT.

Opening in third place was the PG-rated canine tale A DOG'S WAY HOME with $11.3 million.

The family feature from DOLPHIN TALE director Charles Martin Smith (who also acted in movies like THE UNTOUCHABLES, STARMAN and AMERICAN GRAFFITI) cost a reported $18 million.

Critics weren't entirely heartwarmed by the perilous journey of a courageous pup (voiced by Bryce Dallas Howard), giving the movie an average of 59% on Rotten Tomatoes.

Still wall-crawling in fourth place was SPIDER-MAN: INTO THE SPIDER-VERSE with $9 million, bringing the animated gathering of Marvel's web-swingers to a domestic total of $147.7 million. The $90 million PG-rated release has also passed $300 million worldwide over its fifth weekend on screens.

The PG-13 horror movie ESCAPE ROOM was in fifth place with $8.9 million, dropping 51% from its opening last weekend. The $9 million thriller has a ten-day domestic total of $32.4 million.

Disney's PG-rated sequel MARY POPPINS RETURNS was in sixth place with $7.2 million. With $150.6 million domestic and $287 million worldwide, the Emily Blunt-fronted musical has fared better than Disney's previous big-budget family fantasy THE NUTCRACKER AND THE FOUR REALMS, which arrived last November and fizzled to $54.8 million domestic and $172 million worldwide.

In seventh place was TRANSFORMERS spinoff BUMBLEBEE with $6.7 million as the PG-13 prequel coasted past $100 million domestic and reached $364 million worldwide (on a reported cost of $135 million).

The Ruth Bader Ginsburg biopic ON THE BASIS OF SEX expanded wide and entered the list in eighth place with $6.2 million, which takes the trailblazing judge's story to $10.5 million domestic after its limited release run.

Clint Eastwood's R-rated crime drama THE MULE stubbornly stuck around the chart in ninth place with $5.5 million, giving the actor-director's $50 million thriller a domestic total of $90.5 million after five weekends.

Closing out the Top 10 was director Adam McKay's Dick Cheney biopic VICE with $3.2 million. The $60 million drama starring Christian Bale has a domestic total of $35.9 million since it hit theaters on Christmas Day.

Outside the chart, the Jennifer Lopez comedy SECOND ACT departed along with the Will Ferrell/John C. Reilly comedy HOLMES & WATSON and the Disney sequel RALPH BREAKS THE INTERNET (which made it to $190 million domestic, finally passing WRECK-IT RALPH's total).

Despite a wide release on 2300 screens, the Keanu Reeves sci-fi thriller REPLICAS could only generate $2.5 million for the weekend. The $30 million tech tale left critics cold with an 11% average on Rotten Tomatoes (the JoBlo review is HERE).

Next weekend's only major release is GLASS , filmmaker M. Night Shyamalan's sequel to UNBREAKABLE and SPLIT.

Which 2019 release are you most excited to see? VOTE HERE!