‘Weapons’ tops North American box office for second week

[LOS ANGELES] Buzzy horror film Weapons won the North American box office for a second week running with US$25 million in ticket sales, industry estimates showed on Sunday (Aug 17).

The Warner Bros movie starring Julia Garner (Ozark) and Josh Brolin (Avengers: Infinity War) tells the story of the mysterious disappearance of a group of children from the same school class.

Analyst David Gross of Franchise Entertainment Research called it a “strong”second-week performance, especially in a quiet summer weekend at the movies in the US and Canada.

Holding in second place was Disney’s Freakier Friday starring Lindsay Lohan and Jamie Lee Curtis, the much-anticipated sequel to the 2003 body-swapping family film, at US$14.5 million, Exhibitor Relations said.

Debuting in third was Universal action sequel Nobody 2, starring Bob Odenkirk of Better Call Saul fame, at US$9.3 million.

“Critics like this story about a workaholic assassin trying to take a vacation with his family while getting caught up in trouble,” Gross said. “Reviews and audience scores are both very good.”

The Fantastic Four: First Steps, Disney’s reboot of the Marvel Comics franchise, dropped to fourth place at US$8.8 million.

Pedro Pascal, Vanessa Kirby, Joseph Quinn and Emmy winner Ebon Moss-Bachrach star as the titular team of superheroes, who must save a retro-futuristic world from the evil Galactus.

Universal’s family-friendly animation sequel The Bad Guys 2, about a squad of goofy animal criminals actually doing good in their rebranded lives, dropped to fifth, earning US$7.5 million.

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Rounding out the top 10 were Superman (US$5.3 million); The Naked Gun (US$4.8 million); Jurassic World: Rebirth (US$2.9 million); F1: The Movie (US$2.7 million); and Coolie (US$2.4 million).