Warner Bros.’ Aquaman is off to a great weekend with its previews paving the way for a stellar Friday and Saturday night. Box Office Mojo is reporting the James Wan-directed flick earned $13.7 million in previews from Amazon showings, Wednesday night, and Thursday night screenings.
Aquaman brought in an impressive $4.7 million from the Amazon Prime showings alone. According to Variety , Amazon Prime members were allowed to purchase tickets ahead of time through Atom Tickets to view the film at Regal, AMC, ArcLight Cinemas, and National Amusements theaters. These tickets allowed moviegoers to see the film on December 15, six days ahead of its North American release. Amazon Prime previews were also given to members before the release of Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle last December. Fans were allowed to see the film 12 days ahead of its release.
The $13.7 million from previews sets Aquaman ahead of Justice League , the last film put out by the DC Extended Universe. Justice League brought in $13 million last year when the film debuted in November.
This lands Aquaman at No. 34 on the highest earning previews list. The movie fails between 2017’s IT ($13.5 million) and Solo: A Star Wars Story ($14.1 million). While $13.7 is impressive for preview numbers, it falls in comparison to films like Star Wars: The Force Awakens ($57 million), Star Wars: The Last Jedi ($45 million), Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 ($43.5 million), Avengers: Infinity War ($39 million), and The Dark Knight Rises ($30.6 million).
BoxOffice Pro is projecting Aquaman will have a $69 million opening weekend, with a potential for $240 million total gross in the United States. The $13.7 million in previews have the superhero film well on its way to nailing its projections. As the Inquisitr previously reported, Aquaman has been dominating the global box office and currently stands at $332 million at the time of this publication.
Also in its first weekend is Bumblebee , which saw $2.5 million in previews from Thursday night. The Transformers film also had a super-early sneak peek on December 8 which brought in over $700,000. The last Transformers movie, Transformers: The Last Knight had slightly better preview numbers with $5.5 million. The Travis Knight-directed film is projected to bring in $12 million by the weekend’s conclusion.
Other preview numbers for the weekend include Welcome to Marwen ($190,000), Second Act ($515,000), and Mary Poppins Returns ($8.8 million)
Aquaman is now in theaters everywhere. The film stars Jason Momoa, Amber Heard, Nicole Kidman, Willem Dafoe, Patrick Wilson, and Dolph Lundgren.
