Swift stays on top but Flower Moon impresses on North America screens

Film director Martin Scorsese arrives for Apple Original Films' "Killers of the Flower Moon" Los Angeles premiere at the Dolby theatre in Hollywood, California, Oct 16, 2023. PHOTO: AFP

Published Mon, Oct 23, 2023 · 06:28 AM

THE new Taylor Swift concert movie held on to the top spot in North American theatres over the weekend, but history-based crime epic Killers of the Flower Moon had an impressive debut – the best for a Martin Scorsese film since 2010.

Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour, distributed by AMC Theatres, took in an estimated US$31 million for the Friday-through-Sunday period, industry watcher Exhibitor Relations said on Sunday (Oct 22).

That pushed the two-week domestic total for the film, which includes scenes from three of the pop superstar’s concerts, to US$129.8 million. It is now the only concert film ever to top the box office for two straight weekends, Variety reported.

Meantime, Scorsese’s new film had a strong debut – particularly given its three-and-a-half hour runtime, its upcoming release on streamer Apple TV+, and the inability of stars Robert De Niro and Leonardo DiCaprio to promote it as the actors’ strike continues – taking in US$23 million.

“Reviews and audience scores are superb,” said analyst David Gross of Franchise Entertainment Research. With a slew of award nominations expected for the director and cast (also including Jesse Plemons and Lily Gladstone), “the picture is set up for a strong run,” Gross added.

Flower Moon tells the true story of the murders of Native Americans in Oklahoma early in the last century by evildoers after their oil rights.

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In third spot for the weekend, down from second, was Universal’s horror film Exorcist: The Believer, at US$5.6 million. Leslie Odom Jr and Ann Dowd star in this scary sequel to the 1973 original.

Fourth place went to Paramount’s family-friendly animation Paw Patrol: The Mighty Movie, at US$4.5 million. Taraji Henson, Chris Rock, Serena Williams and McKenna Grace voice the super-pups.

And in fifth was Disney’s re-release of 1993 classic The Nightmare Before Christmas, at US$4.1 million. Danny Elfman, Chris Sarandon and Catherine O’Hara star in Tim Burton’s dark stop-motion fantasy.