Ryan Reynolds’ ‘Free Guy’ tops weekend charts in North America, again

Ryan Reynold‘s action-comedy ‘Free Guy‘ has topped the box office for the second week running, beating several new releases. This week, four new movies with major stars were released in theatres across North America, but none of them could rake in enough to topple ‘Free Guy’ on the charts. Even though the new releases included major names from Hugh Jackman to Michael Keaton, the only movie which gave the last week’s winner a run for their money was the one with animated puppies.

‘PAW Patrol: The Movie’ earned $13 million in ticket sales on its opening weekend. The movie is a Paramount production and is aimed at young kids. It was by far the best of the new openers, which included three adult-skewing films that failed to find significant audiences.

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The other major releases this week were – the action thriller ‘The Protégé,’ starring Michael Keaton and Maggie Q, the sci-fi pic ‘Reminiscence,’ and the well-reviewed Rebecca Hall horror flick ‘The Night House.’

With ticket sales of $18.8 million this weekend, ‘Free Guy’ topped the North America charts for a second week. The 20th Century and Disney release, which is playing exclusively at the theatres, collected $112 million globally. The studio attributed the strong hold to good word of mouth.

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“‘Free Guy’ is a movie that harkens back to the days when strong word of mouth and a really engaged star, Ryan Reynolds, combine to make for a great theatrical-first release,” Comscore senior media analyst Paul Dergarabedian told the Associated Press. “It shows that a theatrical-first release even in today’s unusual marketplace can have legs. It feels very 2019, not pandemic-era.”

This is what the box office charts in North America looked like this weekend:

1. ‘Free Guy’ – $18.8 million.

2. ‘PAW Patrol: The Movie’ – $13 million.

3. ‘Jungle Cruise’ – $6.2 million.

4. ‘Don’t Breathe 2 – $5.1 million.

5. ‘Respect – $3.8 million.

6. ‘The Suicide Squad – $3.4 million.

7. ‘The Protégé – $2.9 million.

8. ‘The Night House – $2.9 million.

9. ‘Reminiscence – $2 million.

10. ‘Black Widow – $1.2 million.

These figures are based on studio estimates and ticket estimates by Comscore. Final figures would be released on Monday.

(with AP inputs)