NEW YORK (AP) — In the calm before the Christmas storm at the box office, “Ralph Breaks the Internet” remained No. 1 for the third straight week, while the upcoming DC Comics superhero film “Aquaman” arrived with a cannonball-sized splash in Chinese theaters.

For the second week in a row, no new wide releases opened in North American theaters, allowing Disney’s animated sequel to again lead domestic ticket sales with $16.1 million, according to studio estimates Sunday.

The top six films at the box office were all unchanged. Universal’s “The Grinch,” still a major draw in its fifth weekend, trailed in second with $15.2 million.

But the weekend’s biggest new arrival was in China, where Warner Bros.′ “Aquaman” debuted with $93.6 million in ticket sales. That marked a new opening-weekend record for both Warner Bros. and DC in China. Considering the checkered recent history of DC films (“Justice League,” ″Suicide Squad”), the big launch in China was a promising sign for the spinoff starring Jason Momoa.

“Adding to the success of ‘Wonder Woman,’ this is a really solid performance and portends big numbers for North America in two weeks when it opens,” said Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst for Comscore. “This is a movie, along with ‘Mary Poppins Returns’ and ‘Bumblebee’ and other movies, that’s going to give December that boost that a ‘Star Wars’ movie would give us.”

“Aquaman” will expand to 40 international countries next week and arrive in North American theaters Dec. 21.

“Aquaman” wasn’t the only big-budget holiday season release receiving a lift this week. Paramount’s “Transformers” prequel “Bumblebee” played a one-night sneak preview in 326 theaters nationwide ahead of its Dec. 21 release.

Paramount declined to share ticket figures but domestic distribution chief Kyle Davies said theaters were mostly sold out. Perhaps more importantly, the film directed by Travis Knight and starring Hailee Steinfeld aided its word of mouth with largely glowing reviews — a rarity for the “Transformers” franchise.

Disney’s “Mary Poppins Returns,” due out Dec. 19, also helped its cause with four Golden Globe nominations Thursday, including best picture, comedy or musical, and acting nods for Emily Blunt and Lin-Manuel Miranda.

The feel-good interracial road trip period tale “Green Book” fared even better at the Globes (five nominations, including best picture, comedy or musical, and acting nods for Mahershala Ali and Viggo Mortensen) and had good results at the box office to show for it. In its fourth week of release, “Green Book” held with a rare 0 percent drop, earning $3.9 million in 1,181 theaters. It has grossed $20 million in total.

Yorgos Lanthimos’ comic period drama “The Favourite” continued to pick up steam. The acclaimed Fox Searchlight release, starring Olivia Colman, Emma Stone and Rachel Weisz, expanded into 91 theaters over the weekend to gross $1.4 million ($15,000 per theater).

A more traditional royal drama, “Mary Queen of Scots,” also opened strongly in limited release. The Focus Features title, starring Saoirse Ronan as Mary Stuart and Margot Robbie as Elizabeth I, debuted in four theaters with a robust $50,045 per-theater average. Lis Bunnell, president of distribution for Focus, said the film’s modern spin “made it resonate with audiences in a powerful way paralleling so much of what is still going on today for women.”

Also opening in limited release were “Ben Is Back,” the family addiction drama with Julia Roberts and Lucas Hedges (a $20,243 per-theater average in four theaters), and the caustic pop music critique “Vox Lux,” with Natalie Portman (a $27,000 per-theater average in six theaters).

To commemorate the 25th anniversary of Steven Spielberg’s “Schindler’s List,” Universal re-released the Holocaust epic in 1,029 theaters. But it failed to turn out large crowds, grossing a modest $551,000.

Next weekend, the box office is expected to be significantly busier with the release of “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse,” ″Once Upon a Deadpool” and Clint Eastwood’s “The Mule” and “Mortal Engines.”

Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Comscore. Where available, the latest international numbers for Friday through Sunday are also included.

1. “Ralph Breaks the Internet,” $16.1 million.

2. “The Grinch,” $15.2 million ($25.9 million international).

3. “Creed II,” $10.3 million ($5.2 million international).

4. “Fantastic Beasts: Crimes of Grindelwald,” $6.8 million ($22 million international).

5. “Bohemian Rhapsody,” $6 million ($29.2 million international).

6. “Instant Family,” $5.6 million ($1.7 million international).

7. “Green Book,” $3.9 million.

8. “Robin Hood,” $3.6 million ($7.5 million international).

9. “Possession of Hannah Grace,” $3.2 million ($4.8 million international).

10. “Widows,” $3.1 million ($4.5 million international).

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Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at international theaters (excluding the U.S. and Canada), according to Comscore:

1. “Aquaman,” $93.6 million.

2. “Bohemian Rhapsody,” $29.2 million.

3. “The Grinch,” $25.9 million.

4. “Fantastic Beasts: Crimes of Grindelwald,” $22 million.

5. “Ralph Breaks the Internet,” $18 million.

6. “Nutcracker and the Four Realms,” $8 million.

7. “Robin Hood,” $7.5 million.

8. “A Cool Fish,” $6.9 million.

9. “Door Lock,” $5.3 million.

10. “Creed II,” $5.2 million.

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This version corrects Ali’s first name, Mahershala not Maheshala.

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Follow AP Film Writer Jake Coyle on Twitter at: http://twitter.com/jakecoyleAP

There are plenty of people who do not agree with Saturday Night Live’s political satire who still find some of their skits funny. They often lampoon the President, and even though I don’t think they should they still make me laugh. The latest installment of the SNL cold open was another attempt at going after the President’s family.

It failed. Miserably. It wasn’t funny. The only thing worse than the premise of the skit and the failed jokes was guest star Robert De Niro’s performance as special counsel Robert Mueller. It was embarrassing. His trouble reading the lines on the teleprompter magnified his lack of humor.

You can watch it if you want, but I wouldn’t. It was the bad. Take my word on it.

Oklahoma University quarterback Kyler Murray has won the Heisman award, giving the Sooners back-to-back Heisman winning quarterbacks following Baker Mayfield’s win last year. It also sets up a highly anticipated matchup between Murray and Alabama Crimson Tide quarterback Tua Tagolaivoa who had been the pick of odds-makers until this past week.

Tagolaivoa’s seasons was spectacular but ended with a poor performance against Georgia in the SEC championship game. He left the game with an injury and his team behind by a touchdown, but his backup quarterback came in and led the #1 team in the nation to a victory.

Murray was consistently dominant throughout the season. Even in the Sooners’ lone loss to Texas, he was nearly flawless with four touchdowns in the air and another on the ground. The defense was blamed for losing the game and defensive coordinator Mike Stoops was fired as a result.

The Sooners then won their Big 12 championship game by avenging their loss, solidifying Murray’s victory.

The two-sport star has been drafted by the Oakland Athletics and is expected to play professional baseball following the season, but some have speculated he’ll dip his toes in the NFL draft waters to see if there’s a better offer awaiting him.