(Los Angeles) After four weeks of seeing life in pink, the North American box office has a new champion: Barbie has been dethroned from first place by the superhero film Blue Beetle, according to estimates Sunday from the specialist firm Exhibitor Relationships.
Puerto Rican director Angel Manuel Soto’s feature, in which a student’s body is held hostage by a mysterious beetle that gives him powerful powers, grossed $25.4 million in US and Canadian theaters this weekend .
The lead role is played by 22-year-old American actor Xolo Mariduena. According to analyst David Gross, the tickets sold for this launch, however, represent only a third of those generally recorded for a superhero film.
Relegated to second place on the podium, Barbie still raked in $21.5 million for her fifth week in theaters.
Preceded by an intense marketing campaign, the film features the iconic Mattel doll, played by Margot Robbie, venturing alongside her clumsy boyfriend Ken (Ryan Gosling) into the real world.
In third place, Christopher Nolan’s portrait of the designer of the atomic bomb, Oppenheimer, made $10.6 million in revenue.
Falling fourth, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, who are getting a facelift with Ninja Turtles: Teenage Years, have raised over $8.4 million.
Close behind, with $8.3 million, the comedy Backstreet Dogs, about abandoned dogs on a mission to get revenge on a former owner, only came in at No. 5 in its first week in halls.
