Courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures(NEW YORK) — The R-rated supernatural horror flick The Curse of La Llorona opened in first place this weekend, earning $26.5 million on what was otherwise the lowest-grossing Easter weekend at the box office since 2005 — just $112 million in tickets were sold overall.
Set within the Conjuring universe, The Curse of La Llorona stars Linda Cardellini as a social worker who ignores the eerie warning of a troubled mother suspected of child endangerment and, along with her two children, incurs the wrath of the mythical female ghost La Llorona, who lost her children and brings misfortune to those nearby. Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul’s Raymond Cruz co-stars.
The only other new release to debut in the top ten is the faith-based drama Breakthrough, which opened Wednesday and finished the weekend in third place, with $11.1 million. This Is Us star Chrissie Metz stars in a film inspired by the true story of Joyce Smith, a mother who relies on faith after her young son — played by One Day at a Time‘s Marcel Ruiz — experiences a tragic accident. Josh Lucas, Topher Grace, Mike Colter, Sam Trammel and Dennis Haysbert also star.
On the downside, Disneynature’s live-action “coming of age” family film Penguins, which also opened Wednesday in 1,615 theaters, finished the weekend in 12th place with just $2.34 million. It was disappointing news as well for Hellboy: the R-rated reboot of the comics-based dark comedy fell from last week’s #2 debut to 10th place this week, taking in $3.8 million on a 67.8% drop in business.
Here are the top 10 movies from Friday through Sunday, with estimated domestic box office earnings:
1. The Curse of La Llorona, $26.5
2. Shazam!, $17.35 million
3. Breakthrough, $11.1 million
4. Captain Marvel, $9.1 million
5. Little, $8.45 million
6. Dumbo, $6.8 million
7. Pet Sematary, $4.85 million
8. Missing Link, $4.36 million
9. Us, $4.26 million
10. Hellboy, $3.88 million
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