‘Weapons' battles to top of North American box office
LOS ANGELES : 'Weapons,' a new horror film about the mysterious disappearance of a group of children from the same school class, opened atop the North American box office with US$42.5 million in ticket sales, industry estimates showed Sunday.
'This is an outstanding opening for an original horror film,' analyst David A Gross of Franchise Entertainment Research said of the Warner Bros movie starring Julia Garner ('Ozark') and Josh Brolin ('Avengers: Infinity War').
Debuting in second place was Disney's 'Freakier Friday' starring Lindsay Lohan and Jamie Lee Curtis, the much-anticipated sequel to the 2003 family film in which body-switching leads to amusing hijinks, at US$29 million, Exhibitor Relations said.
'This is an excellent opening. The estimated weekend figure is well above average for a comedy follow-up sequel, and it's also well above the first film's opening 22 years ago,' Gross said.
'The Fantastic Four: First Steps,' Disney's debut of the rebooted Marvel Comics franchise, dropped to third place at US$15.5 million. Its overall take in the United States and Canada stands at US$230.4 million.
Actor-of-the-moment Pedro Pascal, Vanessa Kirby, Emmy-winner Ebon Moss-Bachrach and Joseph Quinn star as the titular team of superheroes, who must save a retro-futuristic world from the evil Galactus.
Universal's family-friendly animation sequel 'The Bad Guys 2,' about a squad of goofy animal criminals actually doing good in their rebranded lives, dropped to fourth, earning US$10.4 million.
Finishing out the top five was Paramount's reboot of 'Naked Gun,' a slapstick comedy starring Liam Neeson as Frank Drebin Jr, son of the bumbling police lieutenant from the original 1980s movie and related television series 'Police Squad!'
The film, which co-stars Pamela Anderson, pulled in US$8.4 million in its second weekend in theatres.
Rounding out the top 10 were:
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