Eternals tops box office in North America again

LOS ANGELES • Marvel's comic-book epic Eternals once again dominates the North American box office. In its second weekend of release, the superhero adventure has collected a leading US$27.5 million (S$37.2 million) from 4,090 North American cinemas. Including Sunday's takings, Eternals crossed the US$100 million mark in the United States and Canada, with box-office receipts at US$118 million.

Though it would not be a particularly notable benchmark in pre-Covid-19 times, only a handful of films have surpassed US$100 million this year.

Eternals declined 61 per cent from its US$71 million debut, a drop that falls somewhere between Marvel's other pandemic releases, Shang-Chi And The Legend Of The Ten Rings (which declined 52 per cent in its sophomore outing) and Black Widow (which declined 67 per cent).

Shang-Chi, like Eternals, is playing only in cinemas while Black Widow premiered on Disney+ (for US$30 on top of monthly subscription fees) on the same day it opened in cinemas. Shang-Chi, the highest-grossing film this year with US$224 million to date, is one of only two films to cross US$200 million this year, along with Venom: Let There Be Carnage.

In second place on North American box-office charts, Paramount's family-friendly Clifford The Big Red Dog pulled in US$16.4 million from 3,700 locations between last Friday and Sunday.

Dune, the sci-fi spectacle from Warner Bros and Legendary, placed third with US$5.5 million from 3,282 screens. To date, the movie has grossed US$93 million while playing concurrently on HBO Max.

REUTERS