Horror Flick ‘La Llorona’ Topples ‘Shazam!’ at Easter Box Office

(Bloomberg) -- The new horror film “The Curse of La Llorona” exceeded forecasts to unseat the superhero movie “Shazam!” atop the weekend box office in North American theaters, giving AT&T Inc.’s Warner Bros. the top two spots.

• “La Llorona” brought in $26.3 million in the U.S. and Canada, Comscore Inc. said Monday in an email -- well beyond the forecast of $16.9 million. The DC Comics film “Shazam!” brought in $16.5 million.

Key Insights

• “La Llorona,” set in 1970s Los Angeles, extended the horror genre’s streak of low-budget moneymakers. But the film, made for just $9 million, was mostly panned by critics: Just 33 percent of reviews on Rotten Tomatoes were positive.

• The movie about a foster kid with super powers, “Shazam!,” had spent two weeks on top in what Box Office Pro calls a “soft market.”
• Fox’s “Breakthrough” landed in third place with $11.3 million, attracting the faith-based audiences who helped previous films like “Miracles From Heaven” and “Heaven Is for Real” have strong runs over Easter.
• “Little,” about a woman who’s changed into her younger self, moved to fifth place from second place last weekend for Comcast Corp.’s Universal Pictures.

Get More

• See the weekend release schedule here. This is the last weekend of relatively light competition before Walt Disney Co. kicks off the summer movie season with the April 26 debut of “Avengers: Endgame.”
• See Box Office Pro’s long-range forecast

--With assistance from Kevin Miller.

To contact the reporter on this story: Hailey Waller in New York at hwaller@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: James Ludden at jludden@bloomberg.net, Nick Turner

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