“28 Years Later: The Bone Temple” may have scored well with critics, but more than a few moviegoers opted to spend the holiday weekend watching “Avatar: Fire and Ash.” James Cameron’s epic topped the North American box office chart for the fifth consecutive weekend with $13.3 million in ticket sales, according to studio estimates Sunday. The Walt Disney Company also celebrated another win as their Thanksgiving release “Zootopia 2” became the highest-grossing Animated Motion Picture Association release of all time.
Meanwhile, “The Bone Temple,” directed by Nia DaCosta, remained in second place with $13 million through Sunday. By the end of Monday’s Martin Luther King Jr. Day holiday, it’s expected to make $15 million, still behind “Avatar’s” projected $17.2 million. The film, released by Sony Pictures and starring Ralph Fiennes and Jack O’Connell, opened widely to 3,506 theaters this weekend due to promotion and strong reviews. It currently holds a 93% on Rotten Tomatoes, and 72% of audiences said in a PostTrak poll that they would “definitely recommend” the film. Given that it’s also in the horror genre and coming out in January, often a dumping ground for lesser films, “The Bone Temple” should have done better. Internationally, it made $16.2 million from 61 markets.
But perhaps in a case of too much haste, the sequel also comes less than a year after the previous installment, “28 Years Later,” which opened in June to a $30 million gross. Over the weekend, “The Bone Temple” was expected to make at least $20 million by Monday. With a reported $63 million production budget, which doesn’t include marketing and promotion, it will have a long way to go to even recover losses.
“It’s one of those head-scratchers,” said Paul Dergarabedian, head of marketplace trends at comScore. “Audiences may be a little confused. But word of mouth can sustain it in this market, as we saw with ‘The Housemaid’ and ‘Zootopia 2’.”
Danny Boyle and Alex Garland, the team that started it all with “28 Days Later” in 2002, are also working on a third installment.
In third place went to “Zootopia 2” with $8.8 million in its eighth weekend. With a current global gross of $1.7 billion, it surpassed “Inside Out 2” as the highest-grossing MPA animated release of all time. The MPA exclusivity means that the Chinese blockbuster “Ne Zha 2”, which has grossed more than $2.2 billion, is not included in the ranking. “Zootopia 2” is also the ninth-biggest global release of all time
Another major recent blockbuster, “The Housemaid,” finished fourth with $8.5 million. Made for just $35 million, the Lionsgate release has grossed nearly $250 million worldwide.
Also joining the top five was “Marty Supreme”, which became A24’s highest-grossing North American release with $79.7 million, surpassing “Everything Everywhere All at Once”. Josh Safdie’s mid-century adrenaline rush may be getting another boost after the Oscar nominations were announced on Thursday.
“Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring” and “The Two Towers” also returned to theaters this weekend and both remained in the top 10, earning $3.6 million and $2.4 million, respectively.
Rounding out the top 10, Focus Features’ “Hamnet,” which won best drama and best female actor for Jessie Buckley at last weekend’s Golden Globes and is considered another top Oscar contender, expanded to 718 locations this weekend, where it made $1.3 million through Sunday.
According to comScore, with final domestic figures released Tuesday, this list takes into account estimated ticket sales at U.S. and Canadian theaters from Friday to Sunday:
1. “Avatar: Fire and Ashes,” $13.3 million.
2. “28 Years Later: The Bone Temple,” $13 million.
3. “Zootopia 2,” $8.8 million.
4. “The Housemaid,” $8.5 million
5. “Marty Supreme,” $5.5 million.
6. “Primates,” $5 million.
7. “Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring,” $3.6 million.
8. “Greenland 2: Migration,” $3.4 million.
9. “Anaconda,” $3.2 million.
10. “Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers,” $2.4 million.
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