The China Mail - Marvel's 'Thunderbolts*' retains top spot in N.America box office

The film, starring Florence Pugh, Sebastian Stan and Julia Louis-Dreyfus, raked in an additional $33 million for the three-day period.

The 55 percent drop from its debut was a "far better hold than recent Marvel adventures," entertainment news outlet Variety reported.

Seeking to boost interest heading into the second weekend, Marvel revealed that the asterisk in the movie's name referred to the titular ragtag team of antiheroes becoming the "The New Avengers."

The group will also appear in next year's "Avengers: Doomsday," which Marvel and parent Disney hope will repeat the epic performance of its predecessors.

The Warner Bros. period vampire thriller "Sinners" also maintained its second place, taking in another $21.1 million for a total domestic haul of $180 million.

Director Ryan Coogler's first original film, starring Michael B. Jordan, continued to benefit from rave reviews.

"A Minecraft Movie" also held onto its third place position, raking in an additional $8.0 million to bring its domestic haul over $400 million.

The Warner Bros. live-action film starring Jack Black and Jason Mamoa has made over $900 million globally, continuing a trend of highly successful video game adaptations.

Fourth place went again to Amazon MGM Studios' "The Accountant 2," at $6.1 million. Ben Affleck plays a neurodivergent math genius with criminal ties, and Jon Bernthal is his hit man brother.

New release "Clown in a Cornfield" took fifth place with $3.7 million.

"This is a solid opening for an indie horror film, particularly for a micro-budget production," said David A. Gross of Franchise Entertainment Research.

Rounding out the top 10 were:

"Shadow Force" ($2.0 million)

"Fight or Flight" ($2.0 million)

"Until Dawn" ($2.0 million)

"The Amateur" ($2.0 million)

"The King of Kings" ($1.1 million)

O.Yip--ThChM