“Black Adam” again takes the top spot at the box office | WGN 720 Radio

Black Adam, the DC superhero film starring Dwayne Johnson, topped the North American box office in its second weekend in theaters. Black Adam fell 59% from its $27.7 million box office opening Sunday, bringing its domestic total to $111.1 million, according to studio estimates.

Johnson has spent a decade trying to bring the character to the big screen and has a vision for what’s next for Superman. But the future of “Black Adam” is not yet completely written. The movie Warner Bros. cost a whopping $200 million, and the sequel was never officially approved.

But big changes are afoot at DC, with the studio just announcing a new management team of Peter Safran and James Gunn, whose love of supporting lesser-known comic book characters is well-documented. And on Sunday, Johnson posted a note to his 344 million Instagram followers at the end of the worldwide press tour, thanking those who worked behind the scenes to launch “our NEW DC FRANCHISE known as BLACK ADAM.”

Bucking recent romantic comedy trends, moviegoers remained interested in Universal’s Julia Roberts-George Clooney film Ticket to Heaven , which dropped just 37% in its second weekend to take second place. The genre hasn’t been the safest bet at the box office lately, with films like Brothers stumbling in theaters, but the star power of Roberts and Clooney is hard to resist. “Ticket to Heaven” added $10 million from 3,692 North American theaters, bringing its domestic total to $33.7 million. It has grossed $119.4 million worldwide to date.

Meanwhile, horror movies took the third to fifth spots on the pre-Halloween weekend on Monday. Lionsgate’s “Devil’s Prey” finished third with $7 million from 2,980 theaters. It should be noted that this is the only one of the three horror films that was rated PG-13. The rest were R-rated.

Paramount’s “Smile” finished fourth in its fifth weekend with another $5.1 million, bringing its domestic total to $92.4 million (on a $17 million budget), while “Halloween Ends” was in fifth place in its third weekend with $3.8 million. “Ends,” which grossed $60.3 million in North America, was simulcast on NBC Universal’s Peacock streaming service.

Chinonye Chukwu’s Til , starring Mamie Til-Mobley, opened wide this weekend, adding $2.8 million. With a 98% on Rotten Tomatoes, the United Artists Releasing film has received good word-of-mouth publicity, much of which centers around Danielle Deadweiler’s performance.

James Gray’s Armageddon Time opened in six theaters in New York and Los Angeles this weekend to $72,000. Gray mined his own childhood to tell the story of an 11-year-old in Queens in the fall of 1980. The film, which premiered at Cannes earlier this year, stars Banks Repetta, Anne Hathaway, Jeremy Strong and Anthony Hopkins.

Several big-name films also expanded this weekend, such as Todd Field’s Tár , which opened in 1,087 theaters nationwide and grossed $1 million. Cate Blanchett’s performance as the famous composer and conductor won her the top prize for acting at the Venice Film Festival last month.

Another Venice winner, Banshee of Inisherino, expanded to 58 theaters and 12 new markets over the weekend. Martin McDonagh’s film starring Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson earned $540,000. The Searchlight Pictures release will expand to approximately 800 seats next weekend.

Charlotte Wells’ Aftersun expanded to 17 locations where it earned $75,242 for a total of $166,030. Released by A24, the father-daughter film starring Paul Mezcal and Frankie Carrio will expand throughout the awards season.

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Follow AP staff writer Lindsey Barr on Twitter: www.twitter.com/ldbahr.