Ryan Reynolds’ action-comedy ‘Free Guy’ beats Hugh Jackman’s ‘Reminiscence’ and Michael Keaton’s ‘PAW Patrol: The Movie’ to top box office again – Times of India

Four new films with major stars from Hugh Jackman to Michael Keaton opened in North American movie theatres this weekend and only the one with animated puppies fared well. But it wasn’t enough to beat out Ryan Reynolds‘ action-comedy ‘Free Guy‘, which topped the charts for the second weekend running.

‘PAW Patrol: The Movie‘, a Paramount release targeted at very young kids that’s also streaming on Paramount+, earned $13 million in ticket sales according to studio estimates Sunday. It was by far the best of the new openers, which included three adult-skewing films that failed to find significant audiences: The action flick ‘The Protege’, with Keaton and Maggie Q, the sci-fi thriller ‘Reminiscence‘, which is also streaming on HBO Max, and the well-reviewed Rebecca Hall horror ‘The Night House‘.

First place went to ‘Free Guy’, that’s playing exclusively in theatres. It dropped a minuscule 34% and added $18.8 million this weekend, bringing its global total to $112 million. The studio attributed the stronghold to good word of mouth.

The relative success of ‘PAW Patrol’ came as a bit of a surprise, even to those involved. Although the movie is based on an immensely popular Nickelodeon series, its target audience of under 6-year-olds is a wild card. Delta variant concerns and its availability to stream at home made it even more of a moving target.

The studio said the audience who turned out to theatres was diverse and predominately comprised of families with very young children. Aronson also noted that for the younger kids, ‘PAW Patrol’ is likely their first experience in a movie theatre ever.

Celebrities who voiced characters in ‘PAW Patrol’ included Tyler Perry, Jimmy Kimmel, Yara Shahidi and Kim Kardashian.

‘Jungle Cruise‘, which is available to rent on an OTT platform for $30, landed in third place in its fourth weekend in release. So far, the Dwayne Johnson and Emily Blunt action-adventure has grossed $174 million globally.

In its first weekend, ‘The Protege’, starring Keaton, Q and Samuel L. Jackson, earned $2.9 million from 2,577 locations. The Martin Campbill-directed action pic about Q’s assassin character Anna, who is seeking justice, got mixed-to-positive reviews.

‘The Night House’, which was very well-reviewed, didn’t connect with its opening weekend audience. The indie horror about a recently widowed woman played by Hall grossed an estimated $2.9 million from 2,240 locations.

Meanwhile, ‘Reminiscence’ with Jackman, Rebecca Ferguson and Thandiwe Newton fizzled with only $2 million from 3,265 locations. The directorial debut of ‘Westworld’ co-creator Lisa Joy, ‘Reminiscence’ is also streaming on an OTT platform.

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

1. “Free Guy,” $18.8 million.

2. “PAW Patrol: The Movie,” $13 million.

3. “Jungle Cruise,” $6.2 million.

4. “Don’t Breathe 2,” $5.1 million.

5. “Respect,” $3.8 million.

6. “The Suicide Squad,” $3.4 million.

7. “The Protege,” $2.9 million.

8. “The Night House,” $2.9 million.

9. “Reminiscence,” $2 million.

10. “Black Widow,” $1.2 million.