LOS ANGELES (AP) 鈥� The horror film 鈥淏arbarian鈥� won the weekend by bringing in $10 million, according to studio estimates Sunday, as the late-summer doldrums at the box office continued.
Director Zach Cregger's debut from Disney's 20th Century Studios premiered at San Diego Comic-Con in July and opened Friday on 2,340 screens.
(Georgina Campbell) who finds her Airbnb-rented house weirdly occupied by a stranger (Bill Skarsg氓rd) in a half-ruined section of Detroit. It goes on to subvert several horror conventions.
The hardly head-turning numbers were expected in a nearly always slow September, with the bigger movies of fall and the holiday season many weeks away. 鈥淏arbarian鈥� nearly earned back its $10.5 million budget in its first weekend, and accounted for nearly a quarter of the entirety of theatrical earnings.
鈥淚n a weekend where the overall box office is quite low, the top number of $10 million is a really solid number for this marketplace,鈥� said Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst for data firm Comscore. 鈥淗orror movies are always an accountant鈥檚 dream, and this is why.鈥�
Coming in a distant second, but playing on just 810 screens, was 鈥淏rahm膩stra: Part One: Shiva,鈥� an Indian, Hindi-language fantasy epic from Star Studios, another subsidiary of Disney.
The film written and directed by Ayan Mukerji, about a DJ named Shiva who discovers a connection with the element of fire and an ability to awaken a supernatural super-powerful weapon, earned $4.4 million in its first weekend in North America.
Long-running Hollywood fare, 鈥淏ullet Train鈥� and 鈥淭op Gun: Maverick,鈥� occupied the three and four spots.
鈥淏ullet Train鈥� has brought in $92.5 million in six weeks and 鈥淭op Gun: Maverick鈥� has earned $705.7 million in 16 weeks. It now stands as the fifth highest-grossing domestic film of all time, just behind 鈥淎vatar鈥� and just ahead of 鈥淏lack Panther," and is the biggest North American earner ever that is not part of a sci-fi or superhero franchise.
"This movie is putting down superhero numbers," Dergarabedian said.
More quiet weeks likely lie ahead before a surge of expected big earners, .
Soon after that, the sequel 鈥� 鈥� kicks off the and an even bigger round of expectations.
Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Comscore. Final domestic figures will be released Monday.
1. 鈥淏arbarian,鈥� $10 million.
2. 鈥淏rahmastra Part One: Shiva,鈥� $ 4.4 million.
3. 鈥淏ullet Train,鈥� $3.25 million.
4. 鈥淭op Gun: Maverick,鈥� $3.2 million.
5. 鈥淒C League of Super-Pets,鈥� $2.8 million.
6. 鈥淭he Invitation," $2.6 million.
7. 鈥淟ifemark,鈥� $2.2 million.
8. 鈥淏east,鈥� $1.8 million.
9. 鈥淢inions: The Rise of Gru,鈥� $1.65 million.
10. 鈥淪pider Man: No Way Home,鈥� $1.3 million.
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Andrew Dalton, The Associated Press
