Equalizer 2 guns down Mamma Mia

In the battle of two very different sequels at the box office this weekend, Denzel Washington’s action pic The Equalizer 2 has narrowly won out over the ABBA jukebox musical Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again.

Studios on Sunday estimate that the R-rated Denzel Washington joint grossed $35.8 million from North American theatres over the weekend. It’s Washington’s first ever sequel and the biggest opening of director Antoine Fuqua’s career. The first Equalizer, from 2014, opened similarly and went on to earn over $190 million worldwide.

Second place went to Universal Pictures’ Mamma Mia 2, which took in $34.4 million, a sum that was driven by an audience that was 83 per cent female and 64 per cent over the age of 25. The film brought back much of the original cast, like Meryl Streep, Amanda Seyfried and Pierce Brosnan, and added Cher, Andy Garcia and Lily James to the mix. Critics overall gave the sequel better marks than the first, which still went on to gross over $600 million worldwide 10 years ago.

“We consider this a terrific opening,” said Jim Orr, Universal’s president of domestic distribution. “And knowing the audience for these types of films, we are going to have a very healthy run at the domestic and worldwide box office. This is a very fun, very uplifting movie that people need right now.”

It’s also a rare showdown of two star-driven films that succeeded in targeting two very different audiences.

“It’s amazing how well-matched these contenders are,” said comScore senior media analyst Paul Dergarabedian. “Both studios really did a great job of marketing each of these movies to their target audience. It’s classic counterprogramming.”