The three-day estimate, from industry watcher Exhibitor Relations, marked one of the lowest domestic launches in years for a studio superhero film, according to Hollywood Reporter.
The film, starring Margot Robbie as former Joker girlfriend Harley Quinn, has drawn generally strong reviews. Young Chinese-American director Cathy Yan won a special Sundance award for her debut film, dark comedy “Dead Pigs.”
Sony’s action comedy “Bad Boys for Life,” with Will Smith and Martin Lawrence as wise-cracking detectives, slipped just one notch after topping the box office for three straight weeks, taking in US$12 million.
Those two movies might have suffered a bit because this is Academy Award weekend, and viewers showed renewed interest in movies vying for the best-film Oscar on Sunday, starting with favourite “1917.”
The wrenching and technically impressive war film from director Sam Mendes earned $9 million for the weekend, down only slightly from the week before.
In fourth was another Universal picture, “Dolittle,” based on the children’s book about a veterinarian who can talk to animals. With a cast headed by Robert Downey Jr. and Emma Thompson, it took in US$6.7 million.
And in fifth, one spot up from the previous week, was Sony’s “Jumanji: The Next Level,” at US$5.5 million. It has Dwayne (“The Rock”) Johnson and Kevin Hart being plunged back into a dangerous video game world.
Rounding out the top 10 were:
- “The Gentlemen” (US$4.2 million)
- “Gretel and Hansel” (US$3.5 million)
- “Knives Out” (US$2.4 million)
- “Little Women” (US$2.3 million)
- “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker” (US$2.2 million)