Horror film ‘Curse’ leads the pack on a very slow weekend

LOS ANGELES: For Warner Bros., the release this weekend of ‘The Curse of La Llorona’ brought good news and bad: the horror film topped all comers in North American theatres, but it did so on the worst weekend overall in years.

‘Curse’, part of the frightbased Conjuring Universe film franchise, took in an estimated US$26.5 million for the threeday weekend, industry watcher Exhibitor Relations said Sunday.

But the overall box-office total of US$112 million was the lowest for an Easter weekend since 2005, the Comscore site said, with no new blockbusters coming out.

‘Curse’ stars Linda Cardellini, Raymond Cruz and Patricia Velasquez in the story of a mother in 1970s Los Angeles trying to protect her children from a ghost -- a story loosely based on the ‘Weeping Woman’ tale from Mexican folkore.

In second place this weekend was Warner Bros.’ lighthearted superhero tale ‘Shazam!’, which took in US$17.3 million after topping the box office for two straight weeks. It stars Asher Angel as Billy Baston, an unhappy foster kid who becomes a muscular and witty superhero (Zachary Levi) when the secret word is pronounced.

Disney’s new ‘Breakthrough’ took in US$11.1 million, considered a solid start for a faith-based movie. It tells the story of a mother (Chrissy Metz) who refuses to abandon hope after her adopted son (Marcel Ruiz) falls into an icy lake and goes into a coma. NBA star Stephen Curry produced the film, his first such effort.

Disney’s ‘Captain Marvel’ placed fourth at US$9.1 million, up a surprising two spots despite being in its seventh week in release. The blockbuster, now well past the US$1 billion mark worldwide, stars Brie Larson as a former fighter pilot who gains superpowers and is plunged into a galactic conflict.

And in fifth was Universal’s ‘Little’, at US$8.5 million. The idea for the comedy -- which has a grown-up (Regina Hall) trapped in a 13-year-old version of her own body (Marsai Martin of ‘black-ish’ fame) -- came from young Martin herself, who was inspired at age 10 when she saw the Tom Hanks hit ‘Big’, in which a child is trapped in his adult body.

Rounding out the weekend’s top 10 were: ‘Dumbo’ (US$6.8 million)

‘Pet

Sematary’ (US$4.9 million)

‘Missing Link’ (US$4.4 million) ‘Us’ (US$4.3 million) ‘Hellboy’ (US$3.9 million) — AFP

Some of the cast (from Left) Aiden Lewandowski, Marisol Ramirez, who plays La Llorona, Oliver Alexander and Jayden Valdivia arrive for the premiere of 'The Curse of La Llorona' at the Egyptian Theater in Hollywood on April 15. • (Inset) Actor Zach Gali��anakis attends the ‘Missing Link' New York Premiere at Regal Cinema Battery Park recently in New York City. ‘Missing Link' takes the 8th spot. — AFP photos Mandy Moore (Right) and Chrissy Metz attend the premiere of 20th Century Fox's ‘Breakthrough' at Westwood Regency Theater on April 11 in Los Angeles, California. ‘Breakthrough' sits at No.2 box of��ce.