‘Bad Guys’ beats ‘Beasts’ at box office

Universal’s kid-friendly caper ‘The Bad Guys’ pulled off a heist for the ages, capturing the No. 1 spot at the domestic box office, reports Variety.

The animated comedy has collected $24 million from 4,009 North American theaters in its debut, enough to take the crown from ‘Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore.’ In its second weekend of release, the latest chapter in the ‘Harry Potter’ prequel series plummeted to third place with $14 million, a troubling sign for the Warner Bros.’ Wizarding film franchise. After a steep 67% decline, ‘The Secrets of Dumbledore’ has generated $67 million to date.

‘The Bad Guys’ may have towered over the competition, but it was not the only newcomer to movie theater marquees. ‘The Northman,’ a blood-soaked Viking epic from director Robert Eggers, and ‘The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent,’ a meta comedy in which Nicolas Cage plays a fictionalized version of himself, opened in theaters nationwide to varying results. With three original movies in wide release, this weekend indicates that Hollywood does, indeed, still have new ideas — but audiences aren’t always willing to make the trek to watch them in cinemas.

‘The Bad Guys’ carries a $70 million price tag, so although the Dreamworks Animation film has topped the box office, it may have to claw its way to profitability in its theatrical run. The international box office will be critical to getting the film into the black. Already, the movie has grossed $63 million overseas, bringing its global tally to $87.1 million.

‘The Northman’ opened in fourth place, generating $12 million from 3,865 locations. That’s a great result for an arthouse film, but alas, ‘The Northman’ does not carry the budget of an arthouse film. The movie reportedly cost $90 million, though sources close to the production say the final number was closer to $70 million after factoring in tax incentives. And Focus Features, who split the cost with New Regency, did not skimp on promotional efforts. ‘The Northman’ has posters with stars Alexander Skarsgård, Nicole Kidman, Anya Taylor-Joy, Ethan Hawke, Björk and Willem Dafoe plastered in Times Square.

At the international box office, ‘The Northman’ made $5 million from 41 foreign territories, boosting its overseas total to $11.5 million and its global tally to $23.5 million.