“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:
- “Superman” (US$7.8 million)
- “Jurassic World: Rebirth” (US$4.7 million)
- “F1: The Movie” (US$2.8 million)
- “Together” (US$2.6 million)
- “Sketch” (US$2.5 million)