‘The Curse of La Llorona’ reigns over weekend box office

LOS ANGELES >> “The Curse of La Llorona” brought good fortune at the box office.

The Warner Bros. horror film based on a Mexican legend about a woman who murdered her children and wanders the world looking for them brought in $26.5 million according to studio estimates Sunday, putting it in the top spot on its opening weekend — the last before “Avengers: Endgame” arrives to dominate.

“The Curse of La Llorona” ended the two-week reign of “Shazam!” in the top spot. The DC Comics superhero comedy was second with $17.3 million, continuing its strong run with a three-week domestic total of $121.3 million and giving Warner Bros. a 1-2 finish.

The inspirational “Breakthrough,” the first release from 20th Century Fox since Disney acquired the studio, was third with $11.1 million, a respectable opening for the modestly budgeted faith-based film.

The reign of “La Llorona” will not last. Its top finish came on a quiet Easter weekend as studios cleared a path for the wildly anticipated “Avengers: Endgame,” the Disney and Marvel juggernaut that should disintegrate all competition for several weeks to come.

Easter weekend saw very few new releases — and none with large budgets — giving smaller films like “La Llorona” a chance to sneak in a few dollars.

“Putting this movie in this sweet spot right before the opening of ‘Endgame’ really paid big dividends for Warner Bros.” said Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst for Comscore. “It was a brilliant stroke of scheduling to place a horror movie right there.”

The film overcame grim reviews (32% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes) to win over audiences. Some scholars and critics also harshly criticized the film for a marketing campaign that involved using traditional Mexican