‘Vengeance’ is unstoppable.
The Warner Bros. and DC smash film ‘The Batman‘ took the top spot at the box office for the third weekend in a row, grossing $36 million for a superhero-like home total of $300.1 million and nearly $600 million globally after earning another $49.1 million internationally for a foreign tally of $298 million.
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One sour note, with 43 percent or more of Chinese theatres closed due to another COVID-19 outburst, Batman launched to a paltry $12.1 million. It was on track for a $25 million-plus debut before the closures.
Matt Reeves’ Batman was only down 45 percent in North America and 45 percent worldwide.
That environment will alter next weekend, when the Sandra Bullock-Channing Tatum action-adventure The Lost City, which hosted preview screenings on Saturday night, is released by Paramount. More than two-thirds of showings were sold out.
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The Japanese anime offering Jujutsu Kaisen 0, which grossed a better-than-expected $17.7 million from 2,340 sites thanks to a perfect 100 percent score on Rotten Tomatoes and outstanding exits, notably from kids, came in second in North America behind Batman. In North America, the film was distributed by Crunchyroll and Funimation. The film, directed by Sunghoo Park, is a prequel to the enormously successful Jujutsu Kaisen series created by Gege Akutami.
Uncharted finished in third, earning $8 million from 3,700 locations for a total of $125.9 million for Sony, which also reports that Spider-Man: No Way Home has nearly crossed the record $800 million barrier domestically, with a total of $797.5 million through Sunday. The studio did not perform as well as Stage 6’s spooky thriller Umma, which grossed $917,000 from 800 screens in its first weekend.
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Globally, Uncharted earned another $19 million, crossing the $200 million milestone and finishing the weekend with a total worldwide tally of $337.3 million. With a $10.4 million opening, it suffered the same fate as Batman in its China launch due to screening closures.
X, the latest horror picture from A24, debuted at No. 4 with a better-than-expected $4.4 million from 2,886 screens. Ti West directed X, a slasher film about a group of young people who are terrified while filming a porno.
Dog, starring Channing Tatum, finished in the top five in its fifth weekend, collecting $4.1 million for a domestic total of $54.2 million for MGM and United Artists Releasing.
The Outfit, a suspense thriller from Focus Festives, debuted in 1,324 theatres and grossed $1.5 million. The well-reviewed film had high audience exit scores and is currently ranked ninth.