‘First Man’ settles for third place
The Neil Armstrong film “First Man” made a third-place landing at the North American box office in its opening weekend in theaters. The Ryan Gosling-starrer and a host of newcomers, like the family-friendly “Goosebumps” sequel and the neo-noir mystery “Bad Times at the El Royale,” couldn’t unseat last week’s top two films, “Venom” and “A Star Is Born,” which again took first and second place.
As the month of October careens toward a box office record, the crowded marketplace can be a blessing or a curse for some films in their first weekends, although the hope is that they will play for weeks to come.
Such is the idea for Universal Pictures’ “First Man,” which took flight over the weekend with everything to its advantage — prestige, good reviews (88 percent on Rotten Tomatoes), a movie star (Gosling) and an Oscarwinning director (Damien Chazelle).
Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to comscore.
1.”Venom,” $35.7 million.
2.”A Star Is Born,” $28 million. 3.”First Man,” $16.5 million. 4.”Goosebumps 2: Haunted Halloween,” $16.2 million. 5.”Smallfoot,” $9.3 million. 6.”Night School,” $8 million. 7.”Bad Times at the El Royale,” $7.2 million.
8.”The House with a Clock in its Walls,” $4 million.
9.”The Hate U Give,” $1.8 million.
10.”A Simple Favor,” $1.4 million.