‘Kingsman: The Golden Circle’ on top
NEW YORK — The R-rated spy comedy “Kingsman: The Golden Circle” displaced the horror sensation “It” as the No. 1 film in North America, while the second “Lego Movie” spinoff of the year didn’t assemble the expected audience.
The 20th Century Fox flick opened with a weekend-leading $ 39 million debut, according to estimates Sunday. But “It” still continues to pull in record crowds. With $ 30 million over the weekend, “It” is now the highestgrossing horror film of all time, not accounting for inflation, with $266.3 million thus far. ( 1973’ s “The Exorcist” grossed $232.9 million domestically, or more than $1 billion in 2017 dollars.)
The “Kingsman” sequel sought to expand on the 2015 original’s $ 36.2 million opening, and its $414 million worldwide take. Matthew Vaughn’s sequel returned stars Taron Egerton and Colin Firth, while adding Channing Tatum, Halle Berry and others. Made more for audiences than critics, reviews for the
gleefully distasteful spy romp were poor, at 51 percent fresh on Rotten Tomatoes.
Fox could celebrate an uptick the second time around, albeit a small one. “The Golden Circle” also debuted with $ 61 million overseas, giving it a $100 million global weekend. Vaughn is planning a third “Kingsman” film.
“We’re seven percent bigger than the last one, which opened on a holiday weekend,” said Chris Aronson, distribution
chief for Fox. “We grew the franchise. We’re very happy.”
The Stephen King adaptation “It,” from Warner Bros. and New Line, may have slightly eaten into the ticket sales for “Kingsman.” Few believed “It” would still be such a draw in its third week of release; horror films usually drop severely after release. But the film has already established itself as the biggest hit ever in the month of September — a welcome
relief to Hollywood after a dismal August.
The “Lego Movie” spinoff “The Lego Ninjago Movie,” was farther off expectations, debuting with $21.2 million. Phil Lord and Chris Miller’s “The Lego Movie” — the 2014 hit that made $469 million worldwide — kicked off a bustling franchise. “Ninjago,” though, is the second spinoff of the calendar year, following February’s “The Lego Batman Movie.”