'Sinners'

Source: Warner Bros

‘Sinners’

Warner Bros continued to pull North American box office out of the doldrums as Ryan Coogler’s new vampire horror Sinners starring Michael B. Jordan arrived on an estimated $45.6m over Easter weekend and replaced stablemate A Minecraft Movie at the top of North American box office amid several firsts.

The studio became the first to have two films gross more than $40m in a weekend this decade after Warner Bros/Legendary’s Minecraft added an estimated $41.3m from 4,032 locations in its third weekend to soar to $344.6m. For Sinners, this was the biggest debut by an original film since Jordan Peele’s Us opened on $71.1m in 2019. The two films claimed 64% market share of the weekend box office.

As of Sunday morning, Comscore reported that year-to-date box office of $2.07bn was tracking 5.3% ahead of the same period in 2024, marking a welcome step-up after a difficult first quarter. This was another win for Warner Bros studio heads Mike De Luca and Pam, Abdy after weeks of speculation about their futures following earlier misses Mickey 17 and Alto Knights.

Sinners arrived in 3,308 sites on the back of strong reviews including an unprecedented “A” CinemaScore for a horror film. The film takes place in the Jim Crow era as two brothers fell their troubled past and return to their Mississippi town where they confront a supernatural evil. Jordan, who starred for Coogler in Creed, Fruitvale Station, and Black Panther, plays the brothers, alongside Hailee Steinfeld, Jack O’Connell, Wunmi Mosaku, and Delroy Lindo.

Sinners shot on Imax cameras and earned $9.1m to become Imax’s biggest North American horror debut, indexing at 20% of box office.

Angel Studios’ King Of Kings added $6.6m after an excellent 11% drop in its second session for $45.3m, while 20th Century Studios’ spy thriller The Amateur fell 51% in its sophomore session on $7.2m for $27.3m through Disney. Rounding out the top five was A24’s Warfare, which fell 42% in its second weekend and grossed $4.9m for $17.1m.

The only other new arrival in the top 10 was Colorful Stage! The Movie: A Miku Who Can’t Sing on 800 locations through GKids for a $2.8m debut. The animation from P.A.Works is based on a game about high school students who express their feelings through music in an alternate world called Sekai.

Fathom’s The Chosen (Last Supper): Season 5 Part 3 fell 72% on $1.8m for an $11.6m running total after two sessions.

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