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.

GET BT IN YOUR INBOX DAILY

Start and end each day with the latest news stories and analyses delivered straight to your inbox.

Sign UpVIEW ALL

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.

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). AFP