On one scary Easter weekend for the box office, The Curse of La Llorona easily takes the crown.
The Warner Bros. horror film wins the worst Easter weekend in years with an estimated $26.5 million across 3,372 theaters. It outpaced expectations to win the weekend. On a very slow box office weekend, its global total is only $56.6 million.
Despite that, La Llorona easily beats the second and third place titles. DC’s Shazam! continues a third week of box office success, falling to second place with an estimated $17.3 million across 4,183 theaters. Shazam! has shown remarkable staying power, falling less than 30 percent in its third weekend and crossing the $300 million mark globally.With that second place victory, Warner Bros. wins the weekend, landing both the first and second place spots with two buzzy releases.
Faith-based film Breakthrough lands in third place with an estimated $11.1 million across 2,824 theaters. This is the worst Easter weekend in 15 years, taking in an estimated $107 million total across North America, which just barely comes in ahead of 2005’s $99 million haul. In 2005, Ashton Kutcher and Bernie Mac’s Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner remake Guess Who and Miss Congeniality 2 were the biggest new releases, taking the top two spots.
Made for a reported $9 million dollars, The Curse of La Llorona easily scores a profit in its first weekend out. Produced by Conjuring artist James Wan, the film is based on a figure of Mexican folklore, La Llorona (the weeping woman), who is caught between heaven and hell and comes to steal children.
It’s not officially part of The Conjuring universe, but its set in the 1970s and features Father Perez (Tony Amendola) from the Annabelle films. Linda Cardellini, Patricia Velasquez, Madeleine McGraw, Sean Patrick Thomas, and Raymond Cruz star in the R-rated horror film. Michael Chaves directs. The film won the weekend despite middling reviews and a B- Cinemascore.
The weekend’s other new release, Fox’s faith-based film Breakthrough, takes third place with an estimated $11.1 million. Based on the book of the same name, the inspirational film is the story of a mother, played by This Is Us’ Chrissy Metz, and her unwavering love and faith after her son suffers a terrible accident. Despite the odds, the convinces family, friends, and community members to believe in the power of prayer.
The PG-rated film stars Topher Grace, Mike Colter, Chrissy Metz, Josh Lucas, Marcela Ruiz Esparza, and Alissa Skovbye. Roxann Dawson directs with NBA star Stephen Curry executive producing alongside successful faith-based producer Devon Franklin (Miracles from Heaven).
Captain Marvel experiences a boost in the run-up to next weekend’s Avengers: Endgame, which is expected to break box office records. It takes in an estimated $9.1 million for fourth place in its seventh weekend. It has now officially crossed $400 million at the domestic box office, the 11th comic book adaptation to do so. Carol Danvers (Brie Larson) will return in next weekend’s long-anticipated conclusion to the MCU’s Infinity arc.
Rounding out the top five is Universal’s Little in its second weekend. It scored an estimated $8.5 million across 2,667 theaters. The film stars Regina Hall as a ferocious boss who is transformed into her 13-year-old self overnight (Marsai Martin) and her employee, played by Issa Rae, must help her navigate this fantastical development.
Overall box office is down 16.4 percent year-to-date, according to Comscore. Check out the April 19-21 numbers below.
1. The Curse of La Llorona — $26.5 million
2. Shazam! — $17.3 million
3. Breakthrough — $11.1 million
4. Captain Marvel— $9.1 million
5. Little— $8.5 million
6. Dumbo— $6.8 million
7. Pet Sematary — $4.9 million
8. Missing Link — $4.4 million
9. Us— $4.3 million
10. Hellboy— $3.9 million