LOS ANGELES, Aug 28 — Sony’s sports action film Gran Turismo didn’t exactly roar to the front of the North American box office, but did make it there on a slow late-August weekend, beating a still-turbo-powered Barbie.

Based on a popular video game, Gran Turismo took in an estimated US$17.3 million for the Friday-through-Sunday period, industry watcher Exhibitor Relations reported Sunday.

"This is a lukewarm opening for an action film based on a video game,” particularly compared to previous game-based films like Warcraft (US$439 million in worldwide ticket sales) and Rampage (US$428 million), analyst David A. Gross said.

The movie stars David Harbour and Orlando Bloom in a story about a racing academy that recruits skilled video gamers to train them as real race-car drivers.

Warner Bros.’ Barbie, meantime, has remained a steady seat-filler, with its US$17.1 million take in its sixth week out propelling it to a US$594 million domestic total.

The Greta Gerwig film recently overtook The Super Mario Bros. Movie (US$574 million) as the year’s domestic box office champ. Add to that the US$745 million Barbie has earned overseas.

Analysts said Sony’s accounting of ticket sales for Gran Turismo” was a bit wonky (including millions in pre-sales) and predicted Barbie might, in the final tally, be the weekend’s Number One — as she is Ken’s.

Last weekend’s leader, superhero flick Blue Beetle from DC Studios and Warner Bros., dipped to third, at US$12.8 million, a nearly 50 per cent drop from the previous weekend. Xolo Mariduena, as the Beetle, became the first live-action Latino protagonist.

In fourth was Universal’s Oppenheimer,” earning an estimated US$9 million. The atom bomb origin story has now surpassed US$300 million in domestic earnings, with an additional US$477 million overseas.

And in fifth place was Paramount’s animated Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem, the latest chapter in the heroes-in-a-half-shell saga, at US$6.1 million.

Rounding out the top 10 were:

Meg 2: The Trench” (US$5.1 million)

Strays (US$4.7 million)

Retribution (US$3.5 million)

The Hill (US$2.5 million)

Haunted Mansion (US$2.1 million) — AFP