On a dismal film weekend, Wakanda Forever stays on top in North America
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Fans in costumes at a premiere for the film Black Panther: Wakanda Forever in Los Angeles in October 2022.
PHOTO: REUTERS
LOS ANGELES – Disney and Marvel’s Black Panther: Wakanda Forever has again led the North American box office, industry watcher Exhibitor Relations reported on Sunday, but the film’s estimated weekend take of just US$11.1 million (S$15 million) reflected a deep slump in moviegoing.
Hollywood has suffered from a dearth of big new films and the growing popularity of streaming services. Last weekend’s top 12 films grossed under US$35 million, one of the year’s worst totals, analysts said.
In its five weeks out, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever has taken in a total of US$409.8 million in North America. But that is far from the US$700.4 million grossed by the original 2018 film, and Wakanda Forever is expected to be knocked off its reigning perch this weekend.
The release on Friday of 20th Century’s much anticipated Avatar: The Way Of Water “can’t come soon enough”, said BoxOfficeMojo.com. “Until then, the box office is slowing to a crawl.”
In second place last weekend was Universal’s action comedy Violent Night, at US$8.7 million for the Friday-through-Saturday period.
American actor David Harbour stars as a sledgehammer-wielding Santa who takes on some bad guys trying to ruin one family’s Christmas.
Disney’s computer-animated sci-fi film Strange World again placed third, with ticket sales of US$3.6 million.
Searchlight’s horror-comedy The Menu, starring Ralph Fiennes, held at fourth place, taking in US$2.7 million.
And in fifth place was Sony’s Devotion, about the friendship of two American fighter pilots during the Korean War, at US$2 million.
One weekend bright spot, said Variety.com, was A24’s The Whale, which in limited release took in US$360,000 from just six theatres, the best per-screen average in 2022.
Canadian-American actor Brendan Fraser, in a prosthetic suit, stars as a 270kg man who tries to reconnect with his daughter.
Rounding out the top 10 were Black Adam (US$1.3 million), The Fabelmans (US$1.2 million), Met Opera: The Hours (US$791,000), I Heard The Bells (US$751,000) and Spoiler Alert (US$700,000). AFP