LOS ANGELES, Oct. 11 (Xinhua) -- "The War with Grandpa," the 101 Studios' family comedy film, took the top spot at the North American box office with 3.6 million U.S. dollars in its opening weekend, dethroning Christopher Nolan's sci-fi action film "Tenet" in its 7th weekend.
According to studio figures collected by measurement firm Comscore, "The War with Grandpa" was released in 2,250 movie theaters across the United States and Canada this weekend. As Forbes reported, the film topped "Tenet" to nab smallest No. 1 debut weekend in 32 years in North America since "Gorillas in the Mist" opened wide with 3.45 million dollars in 1988.
Comscore noted that only 48 percent of all North American theaters are currently open. Some major movie markets in the United States, including Los Angeles and New York still remain closed amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Directed by Tim Hill and based upon the novel of the same name by the late American children's book author Robert Kimmel Smith, the film stars two-time Academy Award winner Robert De Niro among others. The plot follows a sixth-grader who works to get his grandfather to move out of his room after he moves in with his family.
Warner Bros.' "Tenet" starring John David Washington, moved to second with 2.1 million dollars from 2,215 locations this weekend for a North American total of 48.3 million dollars to date.
"Tenet," with a reported budget of more than 200 million dollars, follows a secret agent as he manipulates the flow of time to prevent World War III.
The film grossed an estimated 9.8 million dollars globally this weekend in 62 markets in release for a global cume of 323.3 million dollars. The Chinese mainland is one of the biggest theatrical territories for the film with a cume of 453 million yuan (around 67.67 million U.S. dollars) to date, according to box office data compiled by Maoyan, a Chinese movie-ticketing and film data platform.
Disney's "Hocus Pocus," a 1993 fantasy-comedy film, landed in third with 1.16 million dollars from 2,113 locations. The film, re-released in North America just for Halloween, follows a villainous comedic trio of witches who are inadvertently resurrected by a teenage boy on Halloween night.
Some classic films were re-released to greet moviegoers as theaters are reopening after months-long closure in North America.
Fox/Disney's superhero-horror film "The New Mutants" came in fourth at its seventh weekend with 685,000 dollars from 1,663 locations for a North American total of 21.99 million dollars.
The X-Men horror spinoff is the thirteenth and final installment in the X-Men film series. Directed by Josh Boone and starring Maisie Williams, Anya Taylor-Joy and Charlie Heaton among others, the film follows a group of young mutants held in a secret facility fight to save themselves.
Solstice Studios' thriller film "Unhinged" finished fifth with 660,000 dollars from 1,608 locations at its ninth weekend, pushing its North American total to 19.35 million dollars.
Directed by Derrick Borte, the film stars the Academy Award-winning "Gladiator" actor Russell Crowe as a man who takes road rage to frightening new levels. Enditem
