Disney's 'Mary Poppins Returns' Makes Disappointing Box Office Debut

It looks like the return of Mary Poppins did not go quite as expected.According to Forbes, in the [...]

It looks like the return of Mary Poppins did not go quite as expected.

According to Forbes, in the 7-day stretch since the sequel's return, it has grossed just over $50 million. Mary Poppins Returns will be in theaters for a long stretch, which Disney is hoping will help the movie surpass its production budget, which clocks in at a whopping $130 million.

The movie has opened to mix reviews, with critics both praising the return and labeling it as "pale imitation" of the original Julie Andrews-led classic.

The Telegraph's Robbie Collin was a huge fan of the film, calling Mary Poppins Returns "practically perfect in every way."

Conversely, Collider's Matt Goldberg did not seem to be a fan of the new movie, labeling it a "fading echo of the original."

"Mary Poppins Returns is about as close as you can get to a remake of Mary Poppins without just calling it a remake," Goldeberg explained. "Technically the story takes place 25 years after the original, but Rob Marshall's movie is more about replacement rather than moving anything forward."

In other box office news, the Jason Momoa-led DC Comics film, Aquaman, continued to crush its competition, taking in a domestic total of $83 million in just four days of release. It's crossed $500 million globally, despite competition from the Lin-Manuel Miranda and Emily Blunt movie, along with Paramount's Bumblebee, Variety reports.

The Transformers origin story movie, Bumblebee — which stars Hailee Steinfeld and John Cena — has racked up $25 million over its four-day run. The box office has seen its fair share of misses over the holiday stretch, as well. Universal and Dreamworks' Welcome to Marwen pulled in less than half a million dollars on Christmas Eve for a total of $2.9 million — a very rocky start considering the Robert Zemeckis film cost more than $40 million to produce and is projected to lose the studio $50 million.

Jennifer Lopez and Leah Remini's romantic comedy, Second Act, earned $1 million on Monday and is pulled in around $10 million over its five-day run so far, opening over the weekend to $6.5 million.

In excellent overall box office news, the domestic office has already reached a new benchmark. Ticket sales hit $11.383 billion in North America last weekend, which exceeded the previous record of $11.382 billion in 2016.

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