‘Pacific Rim: Uprising’ dethrones ‘Black Panther’

It took six weeks but “Black Panther” has finally been unseated as the top film at the North American box office. The monsters vs. robots science-fiction sequel “Pacific Rim: Uprising” dethroned the superhero sensation with $28 million in ticket sales over the weekend, according to studio estimates Sunday.

But the result for “Pacific Rim: Uprising,” a Universal Pictures-Legendary Entertainment release that cost $150 million to make, was soft — at least domestically. Like the recently released “Tomb Raider,” its biggest business was in China. “Pacific Rim: Uprising” debuted there with $65 million for Legendary, which the Chinese conglomerate Wanda Group acquired in 2016.

And even though “Black Panther” slid to second place with $16.7 million in its sixth weekend, Ryan Coogler’s film notched another box-office milestone. It’s now the highest-grossing superhero film ever in North America, not accounting for inflation. The film’s $631 million in domestic ticket sales has surpassed the $623 million of 2012’s “The Avengers.” “Black Panther” also becomes the fifth highest grossing film of all-time, rising above “Star Wars: The Last Jedi.”

Yet the record-breaking hit of “Black Panther” has been followed by a string of lackluster performers, including “Tomb Raider,” “A Wrinkle in Time” and “Red Sparrow.” “Pacific Rim: Uprising” may have taken down the champ, but a blockbuster heir to “Black Panther” is yet to be found. Next weekend, Steven Spielberg will try with his big-budget virtual-reality spectacle “Ready Player One.”

Hollywood has essentially already squandered the early lead “Black Panther” gave it. Despite the firepower of “Black Panther,” the year is running 2.6 percent behind 2017 at U.S and Canada theaters, according to com Score. This weekend was down 36.5 percent from last year when “Beauty and the Beast” was in its second week and the surprisingly successful “Power Rangers” debuted.