‘Dunkirk’ and ‘Girls Trip’ top box office

It’s victory for

and at the US box office this past weekend. Both original and wellreviewed films smashed expectations and enticed diverse audiences to the theatres, even though cumulatively summer remains down from last year.

Christopher Nolan’s Second World War epic brought in an estimated $50.5 million (Dh185.4 million) to easily top the charts, according to Warner Bros, while the raucous comedy Girls Trip broke the R-rated comedy slump of 2017 with $30.4 million to take second place.

Dunkirk was far from an inevitable summer success, but stellar reviews, awards buzz and hype around the film’s large-scale production helped drive people to the theatre and large-format screens.

“It became a must-see event,” said Paul Dergarabedian, a senior media analyst for comScore.

Drawing quite a different audience was the buddy comedy Girls Trip, starring Regina Hall, Tiffany Haddish, Jada Pinkett Smith and Queen Latifah as a group of girlfriends who head to New Orleans for a weekend of fun.

Notably, audiences gave the film a stellar A+ CinemaScore, suggesting the film will have long-term playability.

“Girls Trip was a perfectly counter-programmed box office surprise,” Dergarabedian said. “It broke the R-rated comedy curse that has afflicted this summer with Baywatch, Snatched, Rough Night and The House.” — AP Fionn Whitehead in ‘Dunkirk’.