(Los Angeles) It took 36 years to see it return to the screens, but the macabre comedy Beetlejuice Beetlejuice had a stellar start this weekend at the North American box office, taking in some $110 million, according to projections Sunday from specialist firm Exhibitor Relations.
Tim Burton’s cult film Beetlejuice had a mixed theatrical debut in 1988, but “this time around, audiences knew what to expect and it was a huge popular success,” said David A. Gross, an analyst with Franchise Entertainment Research.
For the rest of Beetlejuiceproduced by Warner Bros., Michael Keaton returns at 73 to the striped costume of the sinister and prankster “bio-exorcist” trying to join the world of the living.
He shares the spotlight with two stars who were already present in the first part: Winona Ryder, 52, and Catherine O’Hara, 70.
The latter reprise their original roles, those of Delia and Lydia Deetz, stepmother and stepdaughter who move into a house haunted by a couple of ghosts.
Jenna Ortega, who became a star at 21 thanks to the Netflix series Wednesday (inspired by The Addams Family), produced by Tim Burton, is among the newcomers, with Justin Theroux, Monica Bellucci and Willem Dafoe.
PHOTO SCOTT A GARFITT/INVISION, PROVIDED BY ASSOCIATED PRESS
Jenna Ortega
Long at the top of the box office, Deadpool & Wolverinethe Marvel superhero comedy, driven by the popularity of stars Ryan Reynolds (Deadpool) and Hugh Jackman (Wolverine), comes in a distant second. Beetlejuice Beetlejuice.
It earned $7.2 million in theaters between Friday and Sunday, according to Exhibitor Relations. That brings its total to nearly $1.3 billion in the U.S. and worldwide in its seven-week run.
In third place – and up one place from the previous week – is “Reagan,” a biopic about the eponymous American president, played by Dennis Quaid, which brought in $5.2 million.
For its fourth weekend of operation, Alien: Romulusthe latest installment in the sci-fi horror saga, fell two places with $3.9 million.
Cailee Spaeny and David Jonsson star as space travelers who discover, to their mortal cost, the existence of xenomorphs, fearsome extraterrestrials.
Fifth place goes to Never Again (Sony), based on the best-selling novel by American writer Colleen Hoover, starring the star of Gossip Girl Blake Lively.
The film has now grossed over $300 million worldwide.
Here is the rest of the top 10
- 6. The Forge ($2.9 million)
- 7. Twisters (2.3 million)
- 8. Blink Twice (2.1 million)
- 9. Despicable Me 4 (1.8 million)
- 10. The Front Room (1.7 million)