A Hollywood industry beset by storm clouds of controversy got a silver lining of sorts this weekend, in the form of a what a movie analyst calls a “much-needed up weekend” at the ticket windows.
“Justice League” opened to $96 million in ticket sales in the United States and Canada, according to studio figures from Warner Bros, gathered by comScore.
The movie, starring Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman, is rating very favorably among women older than 25, said movie analyst Paul Dergarabedian. That lifted Hollywood to “a much-needed ‘up’ weekend versus the comparable time frame a year ago,” he said.
A feel-good drama starring Julia Roberts opened in second place, as “Wonder” was on track to get $27 million in gross sales in the United States and Canada.
“Thor: Ragnarok” approached the quarter-billion dollar domestic sales mark this weekend, in its third week of domestic circulation. It reported a $21.8 million weekend, $247.4 million in U.S. and Canadian sales, and $738 million worldwide.
Rounding out the 10 most-popular films in the North American market, as reported by the studios and collated by comScore, were “Daddy’s Home 2” ($14.8 million), “Murder On The Orient Express” ($13.8 million), “The Star” (premiering at $10 million), “A Bad Moms Christmas” ($6.9 million), “Lady Bird” ($2.5 million), “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing Missouri” ($1.1 million) and “Jigsaw” ($1 million).
–City News Service