'Wakanda' stays atop N.America box office for 4th week

'Wakanda' stays atop N.America box office for 4th week

Entertainment

"Wakanda" stays atop North America box office for 4th week

LOS ANGELES (AFP) - "Black Panther: Wakanda Forever" saw weekend ticket sales drop to an estimated $17.6 million but still extended its rule of the North American box office for a fourth week, industry watcher Exhibitor Relations said Sunday.

The Disney/Marvel sequel had taken in nearly $46 million for the previous Friday-through-Sunday period. Still, its domestic total has now reached an impressive $393.7 million on top of $339 million in international ticket sales.

Universal’s new holiday-timed "Violent Night" placed second for the weekend at $13.3 million, "a solid opening for an action comedy," said David A. Gross of Franchise Entertainment Research.

David Harbour of "Stranger Things" fame stars as a cranky, sledgehammer-wielding Santa who comes to the rescue when bad guys invade a rich family’s home on Christmas Eve. Gross said the film should play well until the December 16 release of much-anticipated "Avatar: The Way of Water."

Disney’s computer-animated sci-fi film "Strange World" claimed third place while taking in just $4.9 million. Given its $180 million production budget, "the movie could lose more than $100 million," according to HollywoodReporter.com.

In fourth was Searchlight’s horror-comedy "The Menu," at $3.6 million. Ralph Fiennes plays a celebrity chef who serves up some dark surprises.

And in fifth was Sony s "Devotion," an action movie about two US fighter pilots during the Korean War, at $2.8 million.