Disney’s ‘Star Wars’ stays on top, but Sony has a big weekend

LOS ANGELES: “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker” has continued to rule the cinematic universe, keeping its top ranking in North American theaters this weekend with an estimated take of $33.7 million, industry watcher Exhibitor Relations reported Sunday.

That brought the three-week domestic total for the Disney film – marketed as a grand finale of the nine-film “Skywalker Saga” – to $451 million. It has taken in $468 million overseas.

Holding onto the second spot again was Sony’s “Jumanji: The Next Level,” an action sequel with Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and Kevin Hart, which took in $26.5 million for the Friday-throughSunday period.

Overall, it was an impressive weekend for Sony, which had three films in the top five. Its “Little Women” moved up from fourth last weekend to third, with a take of $13.6 million.

The Greta Gerwig-directed version of Louisa May Alcott’s classic novel has drawn strong reviews -- and the ire of some critics who say it deserved a best-director or best-film nod in tonight’s Golden Globes. (Saoirse Ronan did get a best actress nomination for her role as Jo March.)

Yet another Sony movie, new release “The Grudge,” placed fourth at $11.3 million.

The supernatural horror film is a remake of a 2002 Japanese movie. It got a rare “F” rating from audiences, only the 20th film in 40 years to do so, according to the CinemaScore website.

Disney grabbed the fifth spot with “Frozen II.”

The animated musical about Queen Elsa and her gang took in $11.3 million in its seventh week out – and with an accumulated global total of $1.3 billion has become the topgrossing animated film of all time, surpassing “The Incredibles 2,” according to Hollywood Reporter.

Rounding out the top 10 were:

“Spies in Disguise” ($10.1 million) “Knives Out” ($9 million) “Uncut Gems” ($7.8 million) “Bombshell” ($4.1 million) “Cats” ($2.6 million) — AFP