‘Panther’ wards off its rivals

The film wins for the third weekend. ‘Red Sparrow’ and ‘Death Wish’ follow it.

The superhero film is No. 1 at the box office for the third time.

The cultural, critical and commercial phenomenon that is “Black Panther” boldly marched through its third weekend, hauling in an estimated $65.7 million over the three days, more than triple the debuts of “Red Sparrow and “Death Wish,” according to data from measurement and analytics firm ComScore.

That’s the third-largest third weekend of all-time after “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” ($90.2 million) and “Avatar” ($68.5 million).

“Black Panther,” Marvel Studios’ latest superhero offering, directed by Ryan Coogler and starring Chadwick Boseman, Michael B. Jordan and Lupita Nyong’o, now stands at $501.1 million domestically.

The Jennifer Lawrencestarring “Red Sparrow,” which Times critic Kenneth Turan called a “perfectly serviceable spy thriller,” was the week’s runner-up, with $17 million. It earned a B from audiences polled by Cinemascore and a mediocre 51% positive rating from review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes.

The film re-teams Lawrence with “Hunger Games” director Francis Lawrence (no relation), and it marks a sizable drop from the $100-million-plus openings of that trilogy. Director Eli Roth’s remake of “Death Wish,” starring Bruce Willis as a surgeon-turned-vigilante, finished third with $13 million. It has a brutal Rotten Tomatoes score of 15%. Audiences were kinder, grading it a B-plus on Cinemascore.

Falling to fourth in its second weekend was the action-comedy “Game Night,” starring Jason Bateman and Rachel McAdams, with $10.7 million. Sony continued to hold the family audience with “Peter Rabbit” and “Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle” landing in fifth and seventh places. “Peter Rabbit” pulled in $10 million in its fourth weekend. In its 11th weekend, “Jumanji” grossed $4.5 million.

British filmmaker Alex Garland’s sci-fi thriller “Annihilation,” starring Natalie Portman, was sixth in its second weekend with $5.7 million and $20.6 million overall; the erotic romance “Fifty Shades Freed” was eighth with $3.3 million and a total of $95.6 million.

Rounding out the top 10 were “The Greatest Showman,” grossing $2.7 million, in ninth place, and “Every Day” in 10th place, with $1.6 million.