Box office top 20: ‘The House With a Clock’ is no. 1

NEW YORK » A trio of wide-releases sputtered while the gothic family fantasy “The House With a Clock in Its Walls,” starring Jack Black and Cate Blanchett, ticked its way to a weekend-best $26.6 million in ticket sales, according to final boxoffice figures Monday.

The Universal Pictures release, produced by Steven Spielberg’s Amblin Entertainment, exceeded industry expectations on a weekend that was otherwise littered with disappointments.

Amazon Studio’s “Life Itself,” from “This Is Us” creator Dan Fogelman, bombed with a mere $2.1 million in 2,609 theaters. Sam Levinson’s “Assassination Nation,” which Neon made the top purchase at January’s Sundance Film Festival, debuted with only $1.1 million. And Michael Moore’s Donald Trump documentary “Fahrenheit 11/9,” from the newly launched Briarcliff Entertainment, opened with $3 million, or about half what was expected.

The top 13 movies at U.S. and Canadian theaters Friday through Sunday, followed by distribution studio, gross, number of theater locations, average receipts per location, total gross and number of weeks in release, as compiled Monday by com Score:

1. “The House With A Clock In Its Walls,” Universal, $26,608,020, 3,592 locations, $7,408 average, $26,608,020, 1 Week.

2. “A Simple Favor,” Lionsgate, $10,252,206, 3,102 locations, $3,305 average, $32,414,620, 2 Weeks.

3. “The Nun,” Warner Bros., $9,965,635, 3,707 locations, $2,688 average, $100,610,942, 3 Weeks.

4. “The Predator,” 20th Century Fox, $9,176,459, 4,070 locations, $2,255 average, $40,911,581, 2 Weeks.

5. “Crazy Rich Asians,” Warner Bros., $6,346,641, 2,802 locations, $2,265 average, $159,271,124, 6 Weeks.

6. “White Boy Rick,” Sony, $4,857,655, 2,504 locations, $1,940 average, $17,268,023, 2 Weeks.

7. “Peppermint,” STX Entertainment, $3,684,122, 2,680 locations, $1,375 average, $30,296,681, 3 Weeks.

8. “Fahrenheit 11/9,” Briarcliff Entertainment, $3,008,563, 1,719 locations, $1,750 average, $3,008,563, 1 Week.

9. “The Meg,” Warner Bros., $2,265,438, 2,003 locations, $1,131 average, $140,438,357, 7 Weeks.

10. “Searching,” Sony, $2,150,829, 1,787 locations, $1,204 average, $23,091,173, 5 Weeks.

11. “Life Itself,” Amazon Studios, $2,123,463, 2,609 locations, $814 average, $2,123,463, 1 Week.

12. “Unbroken: Path To Redemption,” Pure Flix, $1,284,253, 1,484 locations, $865 average, $4,539,775, 2 Weeks.

13. “Mission: Impossible — Fallout,” Paramount, $1,162,813, 871 locations, $1,335 average, $218,137,480, 9 Weeks.