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"Ghostbusters: Afterlife," a sequel to the
sci-fi comedy classic, collected $44 million in its opening
weekend, a better-than-expected result. It's a sign that family
audiences are willing to visit their local movie theater,
provided there's something broadly entertaining to be found
there.
At the international box office, "Ghostbusters: Afterlife"
earned $16 million from 31 overseas markets, pushing its
worldwide total to $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 "Ghostbuster"
opened to $46 million, $2 million more than "Afterlife." However
that film cost $144 million -- compared to "Afterlife's" $75
million budget -- making the earlier version a box office dud.
But 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 meager $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" CinemaScore, meaning "King
Richard" could build 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 theaters. The film wasn't
cheap; it carries a $50 million production budget. Plus, Smith
received his full backend box office bonus in addition to his
$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 two weekends at No. 1, "Eternals" slid to second place,
collecting $10.8 million from 4,055 theaters. To date, the
superhero epic has generated $135.8 million in the U.S. and
Canada and $200.3 million internationally. Meanwhile, "Clifford"
pulled in $8.1 million in its second weekend of release, pushing
the family friendly film to $33.5 million in North America.
Warner Bros. sci-fi spectacle "Dune" rounded out the top five
with $3 million in ticket sales, buoying its domestic tally to
$98.1 million. The film, directed by Denis Villeneuve and
adapted from Frank Herbert's seminal novel, is expected to
surpass the $100 million mark in the coming week.
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