Skyscraper falls victim to Dracula in theatres

LOS ANGELES — Dwayne Johnson’s burly action hero was no match for a computer-animated Count Dracula at the box office this weekend.

Sony’s Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation debuted in first place with $44.1 million US, according to figures from measurement firm ComScore.

The latest in the animated Hotel Transylvania series, the cartoon comedy came in above analysts’ predictions of $35 million in the U.S. and Canada, the secondhighest opening for the franchise to date. Hotel Transylvania opened with $42 million in 2012, and its sequel opened with $48 million in 2015. Each film in the series cost about $80 million to produce.

The film, which follows the series’ computer-animated monsters onto a luxury cruise ship, earned an A-minus rating on CinemaScore and a 60 per cent “rotten” rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

In second place, Disney’s Ant-Man and the Wasp, now in its second weekend, added $28.4 million in ticket sales (a 62 per cent drop), for a cumulative $132.8 million.

Legendary Entertainment and Universal Pictures’ Skyscraper opened in third place, with $25.5 million.

The Dwayne Johnson-led action movie picture, which cost an estimated $125 million to make, came in under analyst projections of $30 million to $35 million.

Johnson plays a U.S. veteran and security consultant tasked with saving his family from a burning 240-storey building. The film earned a B-plus rating on CinemaScore and a 51 per cent “rotten” rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

Because Johnson is popular with international audiences, especially in China, the film is expected to garner the bulk of its box office outside of North America. Skyscraper, which opens in China on Friday, earned $40.4 million internationally for a global cumulative of $65.9 million.

“That’s Dwayne Johnson’s bread and butter,” Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst at ComScore, said of Johnson’s international appeal. “Rampage earned three times more internationally than in North America. Just before that you had Jumanji, which performed really well. The output of Dwayne Johnson movies have come, no pun intended, fast and furious over the past year or more.”

Disney’s Incredibles 2 came in at No. 4, adding $16.2 million in its fifth weekend, for a cumulative $535.8 million.

Rounding out the top five, Universal’s Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom added $15.5 million in its fourth week, for a cumulative $363.3 million.

In limited release, Annapurna Pictures’ Sorry to Bother You, which premièred at this year’s Sundance Film Festival, added 789 locations (for a total of 805) and earned $4.2 million in its second weekend, for a cumulative $5.3 million.

The acclaimed indie satire, directed by musician Boots Riley, is about a black telemarketer whose “white voice” allows him to advance quickly in the oppressive company he works for. Last week, the movie opened in 16 theatres and grossed a promising $727,000.