New 'Candyman' scares up $22.3 million and No. 1 at the box office
LOS ANGELES – "Candyman" hooked the top spot at the North American box office.
The film starring Yahya Abdul-Mateen II impressively pulled in more than $22.3 million on a sleepy weekend, despite concerns about the delta variant. The R-rated horror movie, co-written by Jordan Peele and directed by Nia DaCosta, delves into an urban legend that believes if someone repeats "Candyman" five times in front of a mirror, that person would summon the hook-handed killer.
The sequel is a follow-up to the original 1992 "Candyman." The new film is expected to gross $5.23 million in 51 international markets.
"It was a quiet weekend, but it was another check mark in the success column for horror," says Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst for Comscore.
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"Candyman" claimed the top spot ahead of second place "Free Guy," which scored No. 1 at the box office the previous two weekends. The action comedy, starring Ryan Reynolds as a background character in a video game, earned more than $13.5 million.
After "Free Guy," the numbers drop substantially.
Dergarabedian says consumers are being very selective in what they do outside of their homes.
"When you have brand-new movies, if they are of a genre that people love like horror or have a star like Ryan Reynolds and a movie that's perceived to be great, people want to go out to see them," he says. "The other films that are either available on streaming and/or not getting the greatest buzz or reviews are going to drop by the wayside. It's just the nature of this marketplace" amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
In third place, "Paw Patrol" reeled in $6.6 million, a 50% dip from the film's opening weekend. The film, based on the popular children's TV show, has garnered more than $24 million.
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"Jungle Cruise" placed fourth with $5 million, helping the Disney action-adventure film starring Dwayne Johnson and Emily Blunt eclipse the $100 million mark in North America during a five-week span.
"Don't Breathe 2" earned $2.8 million, the Aretha Franklin biopic "Respect" starring Jennifer Hudson brought in $2.2 million and "The Suicide Squad" tallied $2 million.
Meanwhile, "The Protege" with Michael Keaton and Maggie Q pulled in $1.6 million and "The Night House" had $1.2 million.
"Black Widow" barely held onto the 10th spot with $855,000. In eight weeks, the Marvel movie starring Scarlett Johansson has accumulated more than $181.5 million in North America.
Dergarabedian believes the box office could experience growing pains in the coming weeks.
"You're going to have a very top-heavy box office and particularly for films that are available on streaming," he says. "If they're not totally buzzworthy, then people will just stay at home and check them out there.
"If those movies at the top are generating great word of mouth and goodwill with audiences toward going to the movie theater, that's good for the business long term," Dergarabedian says.
Final numbers are expected Monday.
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