‘The Hitman's Wife's Bodyguard’ nabbed the top spot on box office charts, debuting with $11.6 million from 3,331 US venues over the weekend.
The Lionsgate movie, a sequel to the 2017 action comedy ‘The Hitman's Bodyguard,’ opened on the big screen on Wednesday and has collected $17 million to date. However, the film cost nearly $70 million to produce so it could face challenges turning a profit in theaters.
Starring Salma Hayek, Ryan Reynolds and Samuel L Jackson, ‘The Hitman's Wife's Bodyguard’ is one of the rare post-vaccine era movies to play exclusively in theaters. Opening weekend crowds were mostly older men, with 55% of ticket buyers identifying as male and 66% over the age of 25.
As the only new nationwide release, the poorly reviewed ‘The Hitman's Wife's Bodyguard’ didn't have much competition to claim No. 1 in North America. Falling not far behind, Paramount's "A Quiet Place Part II" slid to second place with $9.4 million in ticket sales, representing a mere 22% drop from the weekend prior. After four weeks in theaters, the film -- directed by John Krasinski and featuring Emily Blunt -- has generated a strong $125 million to date.
Elsewhere on box office charts, ‘In the Heights,’ director Jon M Chu's adaptation of Lin-Manuel Miranda's hit Broadway musical, failed to sustain crowds in its second weekend of release. The acclaimed film fell to the No. 6 spot with $4.3 million in revenues, a brutal 62% decline from its inaugural outing. —Reuters
