In its second weekend, “Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour” — released through a direct distribution deal with AMC Theatres — proved that Swift’s star power was just too much for Paramount Pictures and Apple’s debuting epic drama “Killers of the Flower Moon.”
Swift’s record-breaking concert film scored $31 million for a North American total of $129.8 million, while Martin Scorsese’s Leonardo DiCaprio-led “Killers of the Flower Moon” pumped out $23 million, according to estimates from measurement firm Comscore.
“Killers of the Flower Moon” matched early box-office projections that estimated that the film would bring in $20 million to $30 million in the United States and Canada.
Internationally, the three-and-a-half-hour-long movie brought in $44 million, according to studio estimates.
The crime drama marks the sixth collaboration between Scorsese and DiCaprio and landed the third-best opening weekend in the duo’s working history. The film was bested by “Shutter Island,” which scored $41 million in 2010, and the Oscar-winning mob movie “The Departed,” which garnered $27 million in 2006. “Killers of the Flower Moon” outperformed 2013’s “The Wolf of Wall Street” ($18 million), 2002’s “Gangs of New York” ($9.1 million) and 2004’s “The Aviator” ($858,000).
Rounding out the top four at the domestic box office this weekend were Universal Pictures’ ”The Exorcist: Believer,” which conjured up $5.6 million in its third weekend for a North American total of $54.2 million and Paramount Pictures’ ”PAW Patrol: The Mighty Movie,” which grossed $4.45 million in its fourth outing for a North American cumulative of $56 million.
Directed by Scorsese, “Killers of the Flower Moon” is based on David Grann’s 2017 nonfiction book of the same name, which documented the murders of members of the Osage Nation in the 1920s after oil was discovered on the Indigenous group’s land. In addition to DiCaprio, the film’s cast includes breakout star Lily Gladstone, longtime Scorsese collaborator Robert De Niro, Jesse Plemons, Oscar winner Brendan Fraser, Tantoo Cardinal and John Lithgow.
The R-rated picture scored an impressive 92% fresh score on the review aggregation site Rotten Tomatoes and nabbed an A-minus grade from audiences polled by CinemaScore.
“Whatever its triumphs and missteps, revelations and blind spots, ‘Killers of the Flower Moon’ comes by them all honestly,” writes Times film critic Justin Chang.
“And if ‘Killers’ miscalibrates its balance of perspectives, it also discovers, in the luminous recesses of Gladstone’s performance, a quality of contemplation that beautifully suffuses and modulates Scorsese’s faster, more frenetic rhythms,” Chang continues. “This is the work of a filmmaker who, with 80 years and a permanent place in the pantheon under his belt, has nothing left to prove and entire worlds still to discover.”
Taking fifth place at the domestic box office was the re-release of Disney’s 1993 film “The Nightmare Before Christmas,” which took in $4.1 million. The re-release coincides with both the movie’s 30th anniversary and the peak days of spooky season as Halloween nears. Henry Selick’s stop-motion musical opened to $191,232 in its opening weekend in two theaters and hauled in $8.2 million in its first wide release outing. The film grossed $50 million domestically in its initial release and now earned more than $80 millon, including numerous re-releases.
Opening in wide release next week are Universal Pictures’ “Five Nights at Freddy’s,” Relativity Media’s “Freelance,” Briarcliff Entertainment’s “Sight,” and Viva Pictures’ “Inspector Sun.”
