‘Nun II’ narrowly outscares ‘Haunting in Venice’ in North American theatres

WARNER Bros thriller The Nun II kept a narrow lead on a mostly spiritless North American weekend, with an estimated take of US$14.7 million, industry watcher Exhibitor Relations reported on Sunday (Sep 17).

This ninth chapter in the Conjuring series, a gothic tale of spiritual possessions featuring a demonic, red-eyed goat, stars Taissa Farmiga, Belgian actor Jonas Bloquet and Storm Reid.

A Haunting in Venice, the latest Kenneth Branagh take on an Agatha Christie mystery, took in an estimated US$14.5 million for the Friday-through-Sunday period. Since the film from 20th Century trailed The Nun II by just US$200,000, the ultimate weekend winner may be decided only on Monday.

“This is a lukewarm domestic opening” for the genre, said analyst David A Gross, adding that with a US$60 million budget, “the movie isn’t going to lose money after it finishes playing in the foreign markets”.

The movie has a sceptical Poirot – played by Branagh – being lured out of retirement to attend a seance, where – not much of a spoiler alert here – someone is murdered. Tina Fey and Michelle Yeoh also star.

The weekend’s third top moneymaker, at US$7.2 million, was Sony’s The Equalizer 3, starring Denzel Washington in his latest portrayal of a retired US Marine and drug-enforcement agent taking on an endless stream of bad guys. In fourth spot was another sequel, My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3, from Focus Features and Universal Pictures. It earned an estimated US$4.7 million. Nia Vardalos, again playing the central character, directed the film.

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And heroically hanging on in fifth spot in its ninth weekend out was Warner Bros’ Barbie. The Greta Gerwig film had ticket sales of US$3.9 million.

Rounding out the top 10 were:

• Jawan (US$2.5 million);
• Blue Beetle (US$2.5 million);
• Gran Turismo (US$2.4 million);
• Oppenheimer (US$2.1 million); and
• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem (US$2 million).