LOS ANGELES (AP) — “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse” slung its webs back atop the box office ranks while “The Flash” saw a drop faster than the film’s speedy character.
The Spidey animated sequel — starring Shameik Moore as the teenage webslinger Miles Morales — reclaimed the No. 1 spot in its fourth week in North American theaters, scoring $19.3 million. The latest number helped the Sony film reach $317.1 million domestically and an impressive $560.3 million worldwide.
“For a film like this to crawl and spin a web back into the No. 1 spot is very rare,” said Paul Dergarabedian, the senior media analyst for Comscore. “It’s a testament to the quality of the movie. This is a very competitive and crowded summer movie marketplace. And yet ‘Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse’ has distinguished itself as one of the biggest movies this summer season.”
“Spider-Verse” beat out “Elemental,” which took second place for the second week in a row with an estimated $18.5 million. The film held on to the spot after experiencing Pixar’s worst three-day opening last week.
No other film had such a dramatic drop than “The Flash” with $15.2 million for the big-budget offering. The second-week output for the DC and Warner Bros superhero film, starring Ezra Miller, fell off by 72% after opening with a subpar $55 million.
So far, the numbers “The Flash” have accumulated haven’t measured up for a movie with a $200 million production budget. Some are crediting the film’s struggles to Miller’s off-screen behavior that has included arrests and misconduct. The actor has apologized and sought mental health treatment.
“Sometimes it’s not the opening weekend that tells the whole story — particularly with ‘Elemental,” Dergarabedian said. “It’s more about the challenges that can sometimes face a movie like ‘The Flash’ that are multifaceted, and it’s very difficult to overcome.”
“The Flash” barely edged out “No Hard Feelings,” starring Jennifer Lawrence and Andrew Barth Feldman. The Sony R-rated comedy, which opened in fourth place with $15.1 million, tells a story about a teen’s parents who hired a woman (Lawrence) to date and boost his confidence.
With “Spider-Verse” and “No Hard Feelings,” Dergarabedian said Sony should be pleased about the turnout for both films.
“Transformers: Rise of the Beasts” came in fifth place with $11.6 million in its third week with a total $122.9 million. It placed ahead of Wes Anderson’s “Asteroid City,” which did better than expected with $9 million.
In seventh, “The Little Mermaid” pulled in $8.6 million to bring its total to more than $270 million.