Idris Elba may go head-to-head with a lion in 鈥淏east,鈥 but the action flick was no match for the latest 鈥淒ragon Ball鈥 movie at the North American box office this weekend.
鈥淒ragon Ball Super: Super Hero鈥 topped the charts in its first weekend in theatres, with US$20.1 million in ticket sales according to studio estimates on Sunday. 鈥淏east,鈥 meanwhile, settled for a second-place debut with $11.6 million.
Crunchyroll released 鈥淒ragon Ball Super: Super Hero鈥 on 3,900 screens in North America, marking the widest-ever opening for an anime. The Toei Animation production was directed by Tetsuro Kodama, who had the support of 鈥淒ragon Ball鈥 creator Akira Toriyama. The Dragon Ball universe is almost 40 years old, and includes manga, television shows, movies, games and toys.
鈥淲e鈥檙e absolutely thrilled that Dragon Ball fans could come together to experience and enjoy this amazing film in theatres,鈥 said Mitchel Berger, senior vice president of global commerce for the distributor, in a statement. 鈥淐runchyroll thanks all of the fans, whether or not you are a 鈥榮uper鈥 fan or a newcomer, and we hope they come back again and again.鈥
According to PostTrak, the 鈥淒ragon Ball Super鈥 audience was heavily male (79 per cent) and 44 per cent between the ages of 25 and 34.
鈥淛apanese anime is a cinematic tradition, but rarely do you see a movie like this topping the domestic chart,鈥 said Paul Dergarabedian, the senior media analyst for Comscore. "To be ahead of all these other mainstream Hollywood movies is quite incredible. It speaks volumes to the globalization of the box office."
鈥淏east,鈥 meanwhile, opened on 3,743 screens in North America. The film, directed by Baltasar Kormákur (鈥淓verest鈥) stars Elba as a widowed father of two teenage girls, played by Iyana Halley and Leah Jeffries, who find themselves on the run from a bloodthirsty lion during a trip to South Africa.
Including international showings, 鈥淏east鈥 has made $21.8 million so far.
鈥淚 think this is a terrific start for 鈥楤east,鈥欌 said Jim Orr, Universal's head of domestic distribution. 鈥淚 believe we will have a great run at the box office.鈥
Elba also has another film opening in theatres next weekend 鈥 George Miller's fantasy epic 鈥淭hree Thousand Years of Longing.鈥
Sony's 鈥淏ullet Train," meanwhile, landed in third place after two weekends at No. 1 with an estimated $8 million, bringing its domestic total to $68.9 million. Paramount's 鈥淭op Gun: Maverick鈥 placed fourth in its 13th weekend in theatres with an additional $5.9 million. 鈥淭op Gun" has made over $683 million in North America to date, which was was enough to overtake 鈥淎vengers: Infinity War鈥 as the sixth highest grossing domestic release of all time. 鈥淒C League of Super-Pets鈥 rounded out the top five.
Paramount also released 鈥淥rphan: First Kill鈥 on Paramount+ and in 498 locations this weekend. The Esther origin story made an estimated $1.7 million from theatres.
The weekend overall saw about $77 million in North American ticket sales 鈥 up over 168 per cent from the same weekend last year鈥 bringing the year to date to $5.2 billion, according to Comscore. But the summer movie season continues a wind down that may last deep into the fall.
"It鈥檚 not that there鈥檚 not going to be any movies, there鈥檚 just not going to be a $100 million blockbuster for a while," Dergarabedian said. 鈥淏ut in the interim, there鈥檚 going to be a lot of cool movies, like 鈥楧on鈥檛 Worry Darling' (Sept. 23).鈥
Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theatres, according to Comscore. Final domestic figures will be released Monday.
1. 鈥淒ragon Ball Super: Super Hero," $20.1 million.
2. 鈥淏east,鈥 $11.6 million.
3. 鈥淏ullet Train,鈥 $8 million.
4. 鈥淭op Gun: Maverick,鈥 $5.9 million.
5. 鈥淒C League of Super-Pets,鈥 $5.8 million.
6. 鈥淭hor: Love and Thunder,鈥 $4 million.
7. 鈥淣ope,鈥 $3.6 million.
8. 鈥淢inions: The Rise of Gru,鈥 $3.5 million.
9. 鈥淲here the Crawdads Sing,鈥 $3.2 million.
10. 鈥淏odies Bodies Bodies,鈥 $2.4 million.
