LOS ANGELES 鈥� 鈥淭he Curse of La Llorona鈥� brought good fortune at the box office.
The Warner Bros. horror film based on a Mexican legend about a woman who murdered her children and wanders the world looking for them brought in $26.5 million according to studio estimates Sunday, putting it in the top spot on its opening weekend 鈥� the last before 鈥淎vengers: Endgame鈥� arrives to dominate.
鈥淭he Curse of La Llorona鈥� ended the two-week reign of 鈥淪hazam!鈥� in the top spot. The DC Comics superhero comedy was second with $17.3 million, continuing 1its strong run with a three-week domestic total of $121.3 million and giving Warner Bros. a 1-2 finish.
The inspirational 鈥淏reakthrough,鈥� the first release from 20th Century Fox since Disney acquired the studio, was third with $11.1 million, a respectable opening for the modestly budgeted faith-based film.
The reign of 鈥淟a Llorona鈥� will not last. Its top finish came on a quiet Easter weekend as studios cleared a path for the wildly anticipated 鈥淎vengers: Endgame,鈥� the Disney and Marvel juggernaut that should disintegrate all competition for several weeks to come.
Easter weekend saw very few new releases 鈥� and none with large budgets 鈥� giving smaller films like 鈥淟a Llorona鈥� a chance to sneak in a few dollars.
鈥淧utting this movie in this sweet spot right before the opening of 鈥楨ndgame鈥� really paid big dividends for Warner Bros.鈥� said Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst for Comscore. 鈥淚t was a brilliant stroke of scheduling to place a horror movie right there.鈥�
The film overcame grim reviews (32% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes) to win over audiences. Some scholars and critics also harshly criticized the film for a marketing campaign that involved using traditional Mexican healers for 鈥渟piritual cleansings鈥� before screenings.
It was one of three horror films in the top 10 over the weekend 鈥� 鈥淧et Sematary鈥� and 鈥淯s鈥� were the other two 鈥� at the end of a winter-spring stretch that along with Halloween has become a heyday for the genre.
Next week, even though it will still be April, summer essentially begins for Hollywood as Disney looks for 鈥淓ndgame鈥� to have possibly the biggest opening of all time.
鈥淭he summer season usually doesn鈥檛 start until the first weekend of May, but Marvel can bend the calendar to their will,鈥� Dergarabedian said. 鈥淭hey can say, 鈥榃e鈥檙e going the last Friday in April, here鈥檚 your summer.鈥濃��
The receipts for 鈥淐aptain Marvel鈥� surged in its seventh week this weekend. It brought in $9.1 million to put it past $400 million in domestic box office, with audiences likely wanting to take in a small piece of the Marvel cinematic story before 鈥淓ndgame.鈥�
The comedy 鈥淟ittle鈥� was fifth in its second week for Universal. 鈥淒umbo鈥� finally crossed the $100 million threshold as it faded to sixth in its fourth week of a disappointing performance for a live-action Disney release.
Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theatres, according to Comscore.
1. 鈥淭he Curse of La Llorona,鈥� $26.5 million
2. 鈥淪hazam!鈥� $17.3 million.
3. 鈥淏reakthrough,鈥� $11.1 million.
4. 鈥淐aptain Marvel,鈥� $9.1 million.
5. 鈥淟ittle,鈥� $8.5 million.
6. 鈥淒umbo,鈥� $6.8 million.
7. 鈥淧et Sematary,鈥� $4.9 million.
8. 鈥淢issing Link,鈥� $4.4 million
9. 鈥淯s,鈥� $4.3 million
10. 鈥淗ellboy,鈥� $3.9 million.
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