Box office doldrums continue, but ‘Dune: Part Two’ looms on the horizon

As the industry held its collective breath awaiting Friday’s opening of “Dune: Part Two,” North American moviegoers continued to largely ignore new releases.

Last week’s No. 1 film, Paramount’s “Bob Marley: One Love,” maintained the top spot with $13.5 million, according to estimates from market research firm Comscore, while anime stalwart “Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba — to the Hashira Training,” from Sony and Crunchyroll, lived up to expectations, earning $11.6 million in its debut to finish second.

However, two higher-profile releases, Lionsgate’s third-place “Ordinary Angels,” starring Hilary Swank, and Ethan Coen’s eighth-place “Drive-Away Dolls,” from Focus Features, failed to find large audiences, grossing $6.5 million and $2.4 million respectively.

“One Love,” starring Kingsley Ben-Adir as the reggae legend, dropped a respectable 51% from its debut to reach $71.2 million domestically and crossed the $100-million mark globally.

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In fourth place, Columbia Pictures’ disappointing “Madame Web” tallied a projected $6 million in its second weekend for a total domestic gross of $35.4 million. Universal’s animated hit “Migration” rounds out the top five in its 10th weekend with $3 million and a domestic cumulative of $120 million.

Universal and Apple Originals’ “Argylle,” earned $2.8 million in its fourth weekend for a domestic total of $41.7 million. Warner Bros.’ “Wonka” finished seventh in its 11th weekend, grossing $2.5 million and bringing its North American total to $214.5 million.

Opening exclusively in New York and Los Angeles, Sideshow and Janus Films’ release of Nuri Bilge Ceylan’s “About Dry Grasses” grossed an estimated $14,400 for a $4,800 per-screen average despite its three-hour-plus running time, which limited the number of daily screenings.

The highly anticipated “Dune: Part Two” carries a heavy burden next week but boasts a strong critical response with a 97% fresh rating on review aggregation site Rotten Tomatoes. It follows “Dune: Part One,” which grossed $41 million domestically its first weekend in 2021 on its way to a worldwide cumulative of more than $400 million and six Academy Awards.