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SYFY WIRE Box Office

Box office: Aquaman sinks to No. 2 spot for first time in three weeks, still swims past $1 billion and The Dark Knight

By Josh Weiss
Aquaman Jason Momoa Amber Heard

Arthur Curry may be the king of Atlantis, but he's no longer the king of the box office, as Aquaman gets knocked down to the No. 2 spot this week with $17 million in North America.

Neil Burger's The Upside, with Bryan Cranston and Kevin Hart (a remake of the French dramedy The Intouchables) will nab the top spot, but Aquaman isn't sinking to the depths without a fight.

The DCEU feature is set to sail past the $1 billion mark and overtake Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight ($1.004 billion), becoming the second-highest-grossing DC movie at the global box office. It is also the first DC project to break the $1 billion barrier since The Dark Knight Rises in 2012. This is Wan's second film to achieve this feat since 2015's Furious Seven.

"Firstly, massive LOVE and THANK YOU to the fans and audiences around the world," the director said in a statement published by THR. "I'll forever be indebted to Jason for turning Aquaman into one of the coolest, cinematic superheroes ever, and becoming the gold standard for this character for generations to come."

The Dark Knight Rises still holds the all-time international record with $1.084, but that could most certainly change as Aquaman finishes off its theatrical run. Domestically, the submerged superhero flick is in the seventh spot ($275 million), behind the likes of Man of Steel ($291 million), Suicide Squad ($325 million), Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice ($330 million), Wonder Woman ($412 million), and the two Batman Begins sequels (a combined $981 million).

Aquaman Mera Amber Heard

Sony will take the third, fourth, and fifth spots at this weekend's box office thanks to A Dog's Way Home ($11 million), Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse ($9 million), and Escape Room ($8.9 million), respectively.

Jeffrey Nachmanoff's sci-fi thriller, Replicas, is set to take in a meager $2.5 million from 2,329 domestic theaters. Overseas, the movie has raked in $3.5 million, which, to be frank, isn't much of an improvement on its domestic sales. Starring Keanu Reeves (John Wick), the film revolves around a man attempting to resurrect his late family by downloading their consciousnesses into seemingly perfect recreations of their bodies.

Despite the presence of Reeves and a strong supporting cast — Thomas Middleditch (Godzilla: King of the Monsters), John Ortiz (Bumblebee), and Alice Eve (Iron Fist Season 2) — Replicas could not escape a weak plot and the shadow of a long-delayed release; it currently holds an 11% on Rotten Tomatoes.

(via Forbes, Variety, The Hollywood Reporter & Box Office Mojo)