“The Equalizer 3” opened with $34.5 million this weekend to lead all films in North America, according to industry estimates released Sunday.
The third film in the action franchise — all of which star Denzel Washington and were directed by Antoine Fuqua — scored the second-highest Labor Day weekend opening on record, and beat out “Barbie,” which was in second place with $10.6 million in its seventh week, Comscore reported.
“Barbie” has grossed more than $609.5 million domestically and $1.381 billion worldwide. It “passed The Super Mario Bros. Movie” this week to become the top-grossing film of the year globally.
“Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings” made $75 million over the three-day Labor Day weekend in 2021, and grossed $94.6 million over the extended four-day weekend.
“Blue Beetle” was third with $7.2 million Friday through Sunday in its third weekend in theaters.
“Gran Turismo” was fourth with $6.5 million, one week after opening in first place.
“Oppenheimer” was fifth, grossing $5.5 million in its seventh week.
Rounding out the top 10 domestic releases were “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem” ($4.7 million), “Bottoms” ($3 million), “Meg 2: The Trench” ($2.9 million), “Strays” ($2.5 million) and “Talk to Me” ($1.7 million).
This weekend’s overall three-day box office haul was estimated at $90.2 million. The year-to-date total is $6.752 billion — an increase of 26% over the figure at this time last year, according to Comscore.