It’s all over for ‘It’ as ‘Kingsman’ sequel tops box office

Washington (AFP) – Spy comedy “Kingsman: The Golden Circle” dominated North American box offices on its debut weekend, industry figures showed Monday.

It ousted horror hit “It”, which had held the crown for two weeks.

With a star-studded cast featuring Colin Firth, Channing Tatum, Halle Berry and even Elton John, “Kingsman” raked in $39 million for the weekend, according to box office monitor Exhibitor Relations.

The sequel to “Kingsman: The Secret Service,” “The Golden Circle” sees British spy organization Kingsman join forces with American counterpart Statesman to take on a new global threat.

“It,” based on a Stephen King novel and starring Bill Skarsgard as a creepy clown who menaces a sleepy Maine town, earned $29.8 million — half its take from last weekend.

But having stormed the box office in its opening weekend with revenue of $123 million, “It” still boasts impressive earnings of $266.1 million in only three weeks.

In at third was new animation “The Lego Ninjago Movie”, the third installment of Warner Bros.’ “The Lego Movie” franchise, which made $20.4 million.

Trailing far behind in fourth was “American Assassin,” starring Dylan O’Brien as a CIA “black ops” recruit who teams up with crusty veteran agent Michael Keaton to fight terrorists. The film took in just $6.3 million, bringing its total earnings to $26.2 million in two weeks.

Paramount’s “mother!” added just $3.3 million to last weekend’s $7.5 million, itself the lowest opening gross for a Jennifer Lawrence film in wide release. 

Darren Aronofsky’s movie follows Lawrence and her husband, played by Javier Bardem, as their tranquil lives are upended when strangers (Ed Harris and Michelle Pfeiffer) show up at their country home. 

The movie drew a rare “F” from the ComScore website, despite a relatively strong 67 percent approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes. 

Rounding out the top 10 were:

“Home Again” ($3.2 million)

“Friend Request” ($2 million)

“Stronger” ($1.611 million)

“The Hitman’s Bodyguard” ($1.608 million)

“Wind River” ($1.3 million)