LOS ANGELES, Dec 16 — Jumanji: The Next Level iced out Frozen II at the North American box office this weekend, raking in an estimated US$60.1 million in its debut, industry watcher Exhibitor Relations reported yesterday.
Sony’s latest Jumanji sequel stars Jack Black, Dwayne (“The Rock”) Johnson and Kevin Hart as a group of friends returning to the dangerous but fascinating world of the Jumanji game.
Disney’s Frozen II — a return to Arendelle and the magical animated world of Queen Elsa, sister Anna and the gang — took in an estimated US$19.2 million for the Friday-to-Sunday period.
In third place was Lionsgate’s droll murder mystery Knives Out, at US$9.3 million. Daniel Craig stars as a Southern detective hired by an anonymous client to unravel the bloody death of a wealthy patriarch.
Fourth spot went to new Warner Bros. release Richard Jewell, a revisiting of the real-life tale of an Atlanta security guard falsely accused of playing a part in the 1996 Olympics bombing.
The film sparked controversy by suggesting that a now-dead female journalist traded sex for inside information. At US$5 million, it was one of the poorest openings ever for a Clint Eastwood movie.
In fifth was Universal’s new slasher film Black Christmas, which appropriately opened on Friday the 13th, with a US$4.4 million take that nearly recouped the film’s US$5 million cost.
It features a group of sorority sisters stranded on a deserted campus over the holidays — naturally, fending off a killer.
Rounding out the top 10 were:
Ford v Ferrari (US$4.1 million)
Queen & Slim (US$3.6 million)
A Beautiful Day in the Neighbourhood (US$3.4 million)
Dark Waters (US$2 million)
21 Bridges (US$1.2 million) — AFP
