Argylle sees big drop but still tops North America box office

UNIVERSAL’S wacky spy thriller Argylle held on to the top spot in North American theatres on a molasses-slow movie weekend overshadowed by pro football’s Super Bowl championship game.

Argylle took in just an estimated US$6.5 million for the Friday-through-Sunday (Feb 9-11) period, industry watcher Exhibitor Relations reported – and that despite a cast including Dua Lipa, Henry Cavill, John Cena and Ariana DeBose, with Bryce Dallas Howard as a spy novelist who gets in over her head.

Given the Apple co-production’s budget of US$200 million – and its sharp drop from an US$18 million opening weekend – Variety has declared it “the year’s first big bomb”.

Lisa Frankenstein, a new release from Focus Features, earned US$3.8 million to claim the second spot. Analyst David A Gross of Franchise Entertainment Research called that a “weak opening”.

Despite its elements of romance and horror – and humour in a script from Juno screenwriter Diablo Cody – “it’s not connecting,” Gross added. Still, with a budget of just US$13 million, Lisa should turn a profit, he said.

MGM action flick The Beekeeper, starring Jason Statham, stayed steady in third place, taking in US$3.5 million.

In fourth spot was Fathom Events’ The Chosen: S4 EP 1-3, about the life of Jesus Christ. It earned US$3.2 million.

And in fifth, Warner Bros’ fantasy musical Wonka kept up its long top-five streak, making US$3.1 million in its ninth week of release. Timothee Chalamet stars as the eccentric chocolate maker.

Analytics company Comscore said that total ticket sales for the weekend were at a near all-time low for a Super Bowl weekend, at roughly just US$42 million.

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Rounding out the weekend’s top 10 were:

• Migration (US$3 million);
• Anyone But You (US$2.7 million);
• Mean Girls (US$1.9 million);
• Dune: Part One (a re-issue) (US$1.8 million); and
• American Fiction (US$1.3 million).