LOS ANGELES (REUTERS) - Downton Abbey: A New Era, a sequel to the big-screen continuation of the beloved British television show, raked in US$16 million (S$22 million) from 3,815 North American theatres over the weekend. (from May 20)
Though slightly lower than initial projections, those returns are encouraging at a time when older audiences have become selective about going to the movies.
There were fears about the commercial prospects of the second Downton Abbey and not because long-time fans of the series had tired of devouring the class-system drama revolging around the aristocratic Crawley family.
Other than last year's House of Gucci and James Bond sequel No Time to Die, many pandemic-era films catering to adults - such as Steven Spielberg's West Side Story remake and the Will Smith sports drama King Richard - struggled to sell tickets despite positive reviews.
So it's no small feat that nearly 50 per cent of ticket buyers for Downton Abbey: A New Era, a feel-good story set in a familiar franchise, were 55 and older. Those ticket sales landed Downton Abbey in second place, but they were not enough to dethrone Disney's Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.
The latest Marvel movie, which has towered over box office charts for three weekends in a row, added another US$31.6 million from 4,534 theatres between Friday (May 20) and Sunday.
To date, Doctor Strange has generated US$342 million in North America and US$461 million internationally, pushing the film past US$800 million at the global box office.
If Doctor Strange is able to sustain momentum, the superhero adventure could become only the second movie in Covid times to cross $1 billion at the box office after last year's Spider-Man: No Way Home. As No Way Home, isn't playing in China or Russia due to geopolitical tensions, it's been harder for tentpoles to reach the coveted billion-dollar mark.
At the international box office, Downton Abbey: A New Era has earned US$35 million, boosting its worldwide tally to US$51.7 million.
Downton Abbey creator Julian Fellowes returned to write the sequel, which was directed by Simon Curtis (Goodbye Christopher Robin, 2017). The first Downton Abbey movie became a surprise box office hit in 2019, opening to US$31 million at the domestic box office and ultimately grossing US$96 million in North America and US$192 million globally.
The warmly embraced sequel picks up as the wealthy Crawley family voyages to the South of France to uncover a mystery about the villa newly inherited by the dowager countess, played by Maggie Smith.
The cast also includes Hugh Bonneville, Elizabeth McGovern and Michelle Dockery.
