含羞草研究社淎lien: Romulus,含羞草研究社� the latest installment in the 45-year-old franchise, opened in first place at the North American box office. The 20th Century Studios release earned an estimated $41.5 million in its first weekend, where it was playing in 3,885 locations in the U.S. and Canada.

Including $66.7 million from international showings in 49 markets, 含羞草研究社淎lien: Romulus含羞草研究社� boasted a $108.2 million global debut. The Walt Disney Co., which owns 20th Century Studios, claimed the top two spots on the charts, with Marvel含羞草研究社檚 含羞草研究社� Deadpool & Wolverine 含羞草研究社� now in its fourth weekend, taking second place with $29 million. The company has been responsible for an estimated 42% of the industry含羞草研究社檚 summer box office haul, including hits 含羞草研究社淚nside Out 2含羞草研究社� and 含羞草研究社淜ingdom of the Planet of the Apes.含羞草研究社�

August can often be slow for the movie business, or, less charitably, a dumping ground. But while 2024 has lagged overall for the movie business, a string of recent hits including 含羞草研究社淒eadpool & Wolverine含羞草研究社� and 含羞草研究社淚t Ends With Us含羞草研究社� helped build a momentum that put this late August weekend over 30% ahead of the same weekend last year. It含羞草研究社檚 also up over 10% from August 2019.

含羞草研究社淭he summer started off pretty gloomy, but it含羞草研究社檚 winding up really strong,含羞草研究社� said Paul Dergarabedian, the senior media analyst for Comscore. 含羞草研究社淲e thought we were going to coast through August, but now we含羞草研究社檙e powering through August towards a much better overall summer number than we expected for the box office.含羞草研究社�

Fede 脕lvarez directed 含羞草研究社淎lien: Romulus,含羞草研究社� set around the time of 含羞草研究社淎lien含羞草研究社� and 含羞草研究社淎liens,含羞草研究社� and recruited a cast of up-and-coming 20-somethings to lead the cast including Cailee Spaeny, David Jonsson and Isabela Merced. The sci-fi film leans into 脕lvarez含羞草研究社檚 propensity for all things horror, as he is known for 含羞草研究社淓vil Dead含羞草研究社� and 含羞草研究社淒on含羞草研究社檛 Breathe,含羞草研究社� and embraces the franchise含羞草研究社檚 horror roots.

Reviews have been a little mixed, but mostly positive, with an 81% on Rotten Tomatoes. Audiences gave it a B+ CinemaScore.

The romantic drama 含羞草研究社� It Ends With Us 含羞草研究社� landed in third place with $24 million, down just 52% from its triumphant opening. The Sony movie starring Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni, who also directed, has made $97.8 million to date. It cost only $25 million to produce.

The film was adapted from the bestselling Colleen Hoover novel of the same name that follows Lively as Lily Bloom, a woman at a crossroads when a past love upends her current relationship with Baldoni含羞草研究社檚 Ryle Kincaid.

Rumors of behind-the-scenes drama on the film also continues to dominate social media discourse and tabloid headlines 含羞草研究社� but 含羞草研究社淒on含羞草研究社檛 Worry Darling含羞草研究社� also taught us that gossip and chatter don含羞草研究社檛 always translate to box office returns.

含羞草研究社淭wisters含羞草研究社� placed fourth in its fifth weekend with $9.8 million from 3,483 theaters. The Universal release has made over $238.4 million domestically.

Rounding out the top five was a re-release: 含羞草研究社淐oraline,含羞草研究社� which Fathom Events put on over 1,500 screens for its 15th anniversary where it made $11.3 million in four days and $8.6 million from Friday through Sunday. The stop-motion animated film was an adaptation of a Neil Gaiman novella, written and directed by Henry Selick and marked the first-ever release for Laika. It含羞草研究社檒l be in theaters until Aug. 22.

含羞草研究社淏orderlands,含羞草研究社� the video game adaptation starring Cate Blanchett, Kevin Hart and Jamie Lee Curtis, brought in $2.4 million in its second weekend bringing its total box office earnings to $13.5 million compared to its reported $120 million budget.

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Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Comscore. Final domestic figures will be released Monday.

1. 含羞草研究社淎lien: Romulus,含羞草研究社� $41.5 million.

2. 含羞草研究社淒eadpool & Wolverine,含羞草研究社� $29 million.

3. 含羞草研究社淚t Ends With Us,含羞草研究社� $24 million.

4. 含羞草研究社淭wisters,含羞草研究社� $9.8 million.

5. 含羞草研究社淐oraline,含羞草研究社� $8.6 million.

6. 含羞草研究社淒espicable Me 4,含羞草研究社� $6 million.

7. 含羞草研究社淭rap,含羞草研究社� $3.4 million.

8. 含羞草研究社淚nside Out 2,含羞草研究社� $3.2 million.

9. 含羞草研究社淏orderlands,含羞草研究社� $2.4 million.

10. 含羞草研究社淪tree 2,含羞草研究社� $2.2 million.

Lindsey Bahr And Kaitlyn Huamani, The Associated Press