“’A Haunting in Venice’ is fighting for the top spot at the domestic box office”

The third part of Director-Star Kenneth Branaghis the unlikely series of crime films, A haunting in Venice delivers tepid results at the domestic box office in its opening weekend. The film grossed $5.5 million on Friday, including the $1.2 million it made in previews on Thursday. That puts it on track to open with around $14 million in its first weekend, which isn’t usually enough to guarantee a top spot. But things are looking bleak across the market, with this weekend expected to be the second worst of the year so far.

While A spookis a slight improvement over the $12.8 million debut of the last installment in the series, Death on the Nile, which was delivered last year, it should be borne in mind that the market was still in a rather uncertain situation at that time. Things have improved significantly since then, with the summer box office returning to its pre-pandemic glory thanks to this Barbie And Oppenheimer. Death on the Nile Domestically, it finished with just $45 million and didn’t do particularly well internationally either, grossing less than $140 million worldwide. In comparison, the first film in the series from 2017 Murder on the Orient Expressended its domestic run with over $100 million and grossed more than $350 million worldwide.

Based on the novels by Agatha ChristieEach of these films is directed by Branagh, who also plays the famous Belgian detective Hercule Poirot. Reviews for the first two films were similarly mixed, however A haunting in Venice seems to have been received a little better; It currently has a “fresh” rating of 78% on the review aggregator Rotten tomatoes, but only received a B box office score with opening audiences. It remains to be seen how well it performs in the next few weeks; Given the spooky tone, which is a marked departure from the old-school charm of the first two films, one would assume that 20th Century Studios would want to release it digitally in time for Halloween.

Currently only one film is guaranteed a place in the top 5

Last week’s number one film, The Nun II, is still in the running for the top spot in its second weekend. The film grossed $4.3 on its second Friday but, most importantly, surpassed the $100 million mark at the worldwide box office. However, the numbers are admittedly muted compared to the phenomenal performance of the original nun The 2018 film – which grossed more than $360 million worldwide – proves the sequel’s solid performance The incantation There is still plenty of life in the universe.

Sony’s The equalizer 3 is expected to take third place with $2.1 million on its third Friday. The film is marching toward $100 million domestically and hopes to become the highest-grossing film in the action franchise. Presented by Denzel Washington and led by Antoine Fuqua, The equalizer 3 has grossed $68 million domestically and nearly $115 million worldwide to date. In comparison, both the first and second films grossed nearly identical domestic and international grosses – around $100 million and $190 million, respectively.

This weekend it’s a duel for fourth and fifth place, with the biggest film of the year, Barbie, still delivers big numbers despite now being available on PVOD platforms. You’ll probably have to be content with being fifth behind My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3which will reach around $18 million domestically by Sunday. Barbiedomestically, however, is aiming to exceed the $623 million mark. Stay tuned to Collider for more box office updates this weekend!