Slow weekend at box office

After a decade of development and several postponements, the longawaited Stephen King adaptation “The Dark Tower” debuted with an estimated $19.5 million in North American ticket sales, narrowly edging out the twoweek leader “Dunkirk.”

The modest result for “The Dark Tower,” starring Idris Elba and Matthew McConaughey, was in line with expectations heading into the weekend but well shy of initial hopes for a possible franchise-starter.

J.J. Abrams and Ron Howard are among the directors who previously tried to tackle King’s magnum opus, a sevenbook series that melds sci-fi with horror and other genres.

But the long battle to make “The Dark Tower” ended with poor reviews and few fireworks. Still, the movie was made for a relatively modest amount: about $60 million, or half of what many other summer movies cost. Sony Pictures also split costs with Media Rights Capital.

“It was always an ambitions and bold undertaking but it was made at the right price,” said Adrian Smith, president of domestic distribution for Sony Pictures.

By comparison, the recent flop “Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets,” which opened with $17 million, cost at least $180 million to make.

Christopher Nolan’s Second World War epic “Dunkirk” slid to second with $17.6 million in its third week. It’s now made $133.6 million domestically.