Bloody action thriller “Equalizer 3” starring Denzel Washington, Dakota Fanning and Eugenio Mastrandrea debuted at the top of the North American box office, reported Variety magazine, cited by News.ro.

The film, directed by Antoine Fuqua, grossed $34.5 million over the weekend and is estimated to have $41 million through Monday, adding $26.1 million internationally for a $60.6 million opening.

The three-day domestic figure is almost the same as the previous films; Equalizer since 2014, it debuted with $34 million, and Equalizer 2 in 2018, it debuted with $36 million.

The first two films, also directed by Antoine Fuqua, managed to surpass $100 million domestically and nearly $200 million worldwide.

Equalizer 3, which was co-financed by Sony, TSG, and Eagle Pictures, took in $70 million and is on track to reach a similar amount by the end of its run. “This is a very good opening for [a treia parte] action movie,” said David A. Gross, who heads film consulting firm Franchise Entertainment Research.

“The reviews for the series are the best and the audience is great,” he added.

Despite many disappointing films, the box office is having a good year

As summer draws to a close, North American box office receipts have surpassed $4 billion for the first time since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.

This remarkable milestone was made possible by unexpected big hits like the comedy ChinGreta Gerwig ($611 million), Christopher Nolan’s historical drama Oppenheimer ($304 million) and action thriller The sound of freedomJim Caviezel ($181 million).

These blockbusters made up for underperforming films such as DC superhero adaptations Flash and the Disney remake Haunted mansion.

“This is a fantastic result and another positive step for the industry,” adds Gross. Also this weekend, Chin surpassed the animated adventure film Super Mario Brothers moviesproduced by Universal and Illumination, as the highest-grossing global release of the year with $1.38 billion.

In the US domestic box office, Chin remained in second place with $9.7 million for the weekend and an estimated $12.6 million through Monday. During its remarkable run at Warner Bros. Cinemas. it held the top two positions on the North American charts for seven consecutive weeks.

New superhero movies continue to disappoint at the box office

Blue beetle took third place with $6.6 million for the weekend and an estimated $8.6 million through Monday.

Starring Xolo Mariduenha as an alien symbiote, the comic grossed $57 million in North America and $101.9 million worldwide, a mediocre performance considering its $104 million production budget. (Movie theaters get about half of those ticket sales.)

Gran Turismolast weekend’s box office champ, quickly dropped to fourth place with $6.5 million Friday through Sunday and an estimated $8.4 million through Monday.

Neill Blomkamp’s $60 million racing drama only brought in $30.6 million.

The feature film about the “father” of the atomic bomb exceeded all expectations

Oppenheimer rounded out the top five with $5.3 million in its seventh weekend and an estimated $7 million through Monday.

With $310 million domestic and $540 million overseas, Oppenheimer crossed the $850 million mark worldwide, becoming the director’s third-highest-grossing film of all time, surpassing beginning ($837 million).

The result exceeded all analysts’ forecasts for the revenue that such a feature film could receive.

From Nolan’s filmography, Oppenheimer it is behind only movies The Dark Knight ($1 billion) and The Dark Knight returns ($1.08 billion).