Ghostbusters sequel spooks the box office competition with US$44m debut

Los Angeles

THE North American box office is clearly not afraid of ghosts as Ghostbusters: Afterlife, a sequel to the sci-fi comedy classic, collected US$44 million in its opening weekend, a better-than-expected result.

It is another encouraging sign that more family audiences are willing to visit their local cinema, provided there is something broadly entertaining to be found there in the first place.

At the international box office, Ghostbusters: Afterlife earned US$16 million from 31 overseas markets including Singapore, pushing its worldwide total to US$60 million.

The latest installment in the decades-old franchise is looking like a win after the studio failed to revive the supernatural series years earlier.

It should be noted that Sony's 2016 all-female reboot of Ghostbusters opened to US$46 million, US$2 million more than what Afterlife collected.

However that film cost US$144 million - nearly double Afterlife's US$75 million budget - making the earlier version a box office dud.

Elsewhere, despite rapturous reviews and Oscar buzz, the Warner Bros sports drama King Richard became the latest adult-oriented drama to crumble at the box office.

The film, starring Will Smith as the father of tennis legends Venus and Serena Williams, eked out a meagre US$5.7 million from 3,302 venues in North America.

It may be slightly premature to call it an out-and-out bomb because Warner Bros is releasing it concurrently on HBO Max, which likely cut into ticket sales.

It was embraced by audiences, who awarded it an "A" on CinemaScore, meaning King Richard could pick up steam as word-of-mouth grows.

Oscar pundits believe the movie could find itself in the awards race, another factor that could extend its life in cinemas. The film was not cheap, too, for it carries a US$50 million production budget.

Plus, Smith received his full backend box office bonus in addition to his US$20 million salary as a make-good for sending the film to HBO Max.

King Richard landed in fourth place on box office charts, behind holdovers Marvel's Eternals and Paramount's Clifford the Big Red Dog. After 2 weekends at No 1, Eternals slid to second place, collecting US$10.8 million from 4,055 theatres.

To date, the superhero epic has generated US$135.8 million in the US and Canada, and US$200.3 million internationally.

Meanwhile, Clifford pulled in US$8.1 million in its second weekend of release, pushing the family-friendly film to US$33.5 million in North America.

Warner Bros' sci-fi spectacle Dune rounded out the top 5 with US$3 million in ticket sales, buoying its domestic tally to US$98.1 million.

The film, directed by Denis Villeneuve and adapted from Frank Herbert's seminal novel, is expected to surpass the US$100 million mark in the next few days. REUTERS