‘Kingsman’ Reigns at Box Office With $39 Million Debut
“Kingsman: The Golden Circle,” led the North American box office in its weekend debut.
(Bloomberg) -- “Kingsman: The Golden Circle,” a sequel to the surprise 2015 hit from 20th Century Fox, led the North American box office in its weekend debut, fending off a challenge from Warner Bros.’ latest “Lego” movie.
“Kingsman” collected $39 million in U.S. and Canadian theaters, researcher ComScore Inc. estimated in an emailed statement Monday. “The Lego Ninjago Movie” placed third with a lower-than-expected $20.4 million, while horror feature “Friend Request” came in seventh place.
The win for 21st Century Fox Inc. means the company is more likely to slate additional installments of the “Kingsman” action-comedy series. Fox’s domestic box-office sales peaked in 2014, according to data from Box Office Mojo, and the studio is working under new Chairman Stacey Snider to build its pipeline of franchise film properties.
In “The Golden Circle,” British actor Taron Egerton reprises his role as apprentice to superspy Colin Firth, joined by co-stars who include Channing Tatum, Halle Berry and Jeff Bridges. In this installment, the heroes discover a rival agency called the Statesman and they team up to defeat a new foe.
While the first “Kingsman” movie received a positive critical reception, critics were split over the new picture, with 49 percent positive reviews at the aggregator site Rottentomatoes.com.
The film cost about $104 million to make and was forecast to generate $45 million in domestic weekend sales, according to Box Office Mojo.
Hollywood Stock Exchange had estimated $41.5 million in weekend sales for “The Lego Ninjago Movie,” a ninja-themed spinoff of a 2014 hit movie from Time Warner Inc.’s film division. The new feature, which cost about $60 million to produce, also drew mixed reviews from critics.
“The Lego Ninjago Movie” features Dave Franco as Lloyd, the Green Ninja, who with secret warrior friends led by Jackie Chan’s Master Wu must battle for the city of Ninjago.
The weekend’s third new release, Entertainment Studios’ “Friend Request,” opened with revenue of $2 million, just below the $2.4 million estimate of BoxOfficePro.com. The film is about a popular college student who finds herself fighting a demonic presence after accepting a mysterious friend request on a social network. Just 19 percent of critics gave the movie positive reviews.
To contact the reporter on this story: Anousha Sakoui in Los Angeles at asakoui@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Crayton Harrison at tharrison5@bloomberg.net, Rob Golum, Bruce Rule