NEW YORK (AP) – In a quiet weekend at theaters ahead of the upcoming release of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever…
NEW YORK (AP) — It’s a quiet weekend in theaters ahead of the upcoming release of the film “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” Warner Bros. “Black Adam” topped the box office for a third weekend in a row with $18.5 million in ticket sales, according to studio estimates Sunday.
“Black Adam” Dwayne Johnson bid to launch new superpower DC Films, surpassed $300 million worldwide in its three weeks of release, including domestic totals of $137.4 million and $319.7 million worldwide. That puts the $195 million film — the third film this year to top the box office for three consecutive weeks — on a trajectory to likely surpass the $366 million that “Shazam!” collected in 2019, but is less certain to turn a profit at the box office.
It is expected that if the film Walt Disney Co. Black Panther: Wakanda Forever hits theaters Thursday in what will be one of the biggest opening weekends of the year. Original by Ryan Coogler debuted to over $200 million in US and Canadian theaters in 2018and projections show it could open around $175 million.
With Wakanda Forever looming, only one new film has been released in wide release: “One Piece Film: Red”, distributed by Sony Picture’s animation division, Crunchyroll. The Japanese anime sequel, part of the One Piece franchise, debuted in second place with $9.5 million. While the anime “Red” wasn’t as strong as the opening of Crunchyroll’s “Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero,” which took in $21.1 million in August, or “Jujutsu Kaisen 0: The Movie” from Funimation, which earned $18 million in March. is proving an unusually solid draw in North American theaters. The 15th film in the franchise but the first to be released widely in the US, Red attracted a particularly young audience, with about 75% of ticket buyers aged 18 to 34.
The third place was taken by “Ticket to Paradise”, a romantic comedy by George Clooney and Julia Roberts. The Universal Pictures release grossed $8.5 million in its third weekend, bringing the $60 million-budgeted rom-com to $46.7 million domestically and $137.2 million worldwide. For a genre that has struggled in theaters in recent years, “Ticket to Heaven” shows staying power, especially as a favorite choice for older audiences.
Even as Halloween comes and goes, Paramount Pictures’ “smile” also continued to do well in theaters. In its sixth week, the horror film added another $4 million for a total of $99.1 million.
Some of the year’s top Oscar contenders have struggled to make much of an impact at the box office. James Gray “Armageddon Time”, the coming-of-age story set in 1980s New York opened in 1,006 theaters in its second week and grossed $810,000 for Focus Features. Focus “Tar” starring Cate Blanchett as the famous conductor, grossed $670,000 in 1,090 theaters for a five-week total of $3.7 million. MGM “to” about Mamie Till-Mobley’s quest for justice for her 14-year-old son, Emmett Till, added $1.9 million from 2,316 theaters for a four-week total of $6.6 million.
Best of all at this point was Searchlight Pictures “Inisherina’s Banshee” starring Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson as Irish rowing friends. In its third weekend of release, it grossed $3 million at 895 locations, taking its global cume to $10.2 million.
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Follow AP Writer Jake Coyle on Twitter at: http://twitter.com/jakecoyleAP
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