LOS ANGELES, Dec 27 — New Warner Bros. release Aquaman made the biggest waves in North American theaters over the weekend with US$67.4 million (RM281.4 million) in ticket sales, industry tracker Exhibitor Relations said yesterday.

That put it well ahead of two other new holiday-timed releases, as Disney’s Mary Poppins Returns took in US$23.5 million for the three-day weekend, flying slightly higher than Paramount’s Bumblebee at US$21.7 million.

Aquaman stars Jason Momoa in a title role infused with new swagger by director James Wan, with Variety calling Momoa’s Aquaman “a bare-chested Hawaiian super-stud with long, shaggy surfer hair and all-over tribal tattoos.”

Mary Poppins, while lacking truly boffo opening numbers, is expected to follow past musicals in enjoying a long box-office run.

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The sequel to the 1964 movie stars Emily Blunt as the stern but kind-hearted nanny (Julie Andrews in the original), backed by Lin-Manuel Miranda of Hamilton fame. Dick Van Dyke, Mary Poppins’ Cockney-accented friend in the original film, makes a cameo.

Bumblebee, a prequel to the Transformers movies, stars Hailee Steinfeld and John Cena. It drew a lofty 94 per cent rating from Rotten Tomatoes while all three of the top grossing new movies earned strong A- ratings from CinemaScores.

In fourth was Sony’s Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, taking in US$16.6 million. It has Peter Parker making way for Miles Morales as a black, Latino Spider-Man.

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And fifth spot went to The Mule from Warner Bros., at US$9.5 million. Clint Eastwood, who at 88 says this will be his last acting part, directs and takes the lead role as a destitute 90-year-old who turns to transporting cocaine for a Mexican drug cartel.

Rounding out the weekend’s top 10 were:

Dr. Seuss’s The Grinch (US$8.5 million)

Second Act (US$6.5 million)

Ralph Breaks the Internet (US$4.7 million)

Welcome to Marwen (US$2.4 million)

Mary Queen of Scots (US$2.3 million) — AFP