Death on the Nile cruised to the top of the North American box office in its opening weekend, showing the continuing lure of a good old-fashioned Agatha Christie murder mystery, according to industry data Sunday.
The movie from 20th Century – the third based on Christie’s 1937 novel of the same name – took in an estimated $12.8 million for the Friday-to-Sunday period, industry watcher Exhibitor Relations reported.
“This is a fair opening, with a couple of asterisks,” said David A. Gross of Franchise Entertainment Research. The asterisks: Sunday’s widely watched football Super Bowl always depresses filmgoing, and coronavirus-hit Hollywood is still battling its way back from the Omicron surge.
Death on the Nile stars and was directed by Kenneth Branagh as perspicacious Belgian detective Hercule Poirot, a role he also played in his Murder on the Orient Express.
Branagh is having a good year: His Belfast garnered best-film and best-director Oscar nominations.
The success of Death left last weekend’s box-office leader, Jackass Forever, slipping to second place, at $8.1 million. Paramount’s irreverent comedy features spoofs, gross-outs and painful stunts dreamed up by Johnny Knoxville and his merry pranksters.
In third spot, opening strategically before Valentine’s Day on Monday, was Universal’s rom-com Marry Me, at $8 million.
It stars Jennifer Lopez and Owen Wilson as two strangers – she a superstar, he a nerdy divorced math teacher – who spontaneously agree to marry each other and then… (fill in appropriate Hollywood ending).
Sony blockbuster Spider-Man: No Way Home took fourth spot, at $7.2 million. The Sony/Marvel film has been in the top five domestically since its release nine weeks ago. The film’s international take has now passed the $1 billion mark.
And in fifth spot was another new release, Blacklight from Focus Features.
The quirky Liam Neeson crime thriller, which has suffered poor reviews, took in $3.6 million.
Death on the Nile by Agatha Christie Photo: AFP
