'Curse of La Llorna' Lifted to #1 Over Easter Weekend

Leading the Easter weekend charge was Warner Bros. and New Line's The Curse of La Llorona, which topped expectations as audiences continue to crave new horror, giving WB and New Line their third straight weekend at #1. Disney and Fox's Breakthrough delivered a top three performance following its Wednesday debut and Disney also saw Captain Marvel enjoy a nice bump over the weekend, topping $400 million domestically, as audiences prep for the release of Avengers: Endgame next weekend.

Warner Bros. and New Line took the weekend's top spot for the third weekend in a row, this time with debut of the R-rated horror The Curse of La Llorona, which delivered an estimated $26.5 million, well ahead of expectations. While pretty much dismissed by critics (32% on RottenTomatoes and 41 on Metacritic), the film received a "B-" CinemaScore from opening weekend audiences which were 51% male with 60% of the crowd coming in aged 25 or older.

Internationally, Curse of La Llorona launched in 71 markets, bringing in an estimated $30 million for a $56.5 million global launch. The debut was led by a $5.3 million opening in Mexico, followed by Colombia ($2.4m), France ($2.1m), Spain ($1.7m), Indonesia ($1.6m), Korea ($1.3m), India ($1.1m) and Russia ($1.1m). The film still has a few markets where it has yet to open, including the UK on May 3 and Japan a week later on May 10.

Along with a #1 finish, WB and New Line also secured the runner up position with Shazam!, which topped the past two weekends and held on very well in its junior frame, dipping -29% for an estimated $17.3 million as the film's domestic cume now tops $121 million. Internationally, the film added another $22 million this weekend, pushing its overseas cume to $201.5 for a worldwide gross that now tops $322 million.

Debuting in third place is Disney's first official Fox release since acquiring the studio in the faith-based feature Breakthrough, which opened on Wednesday and delivered an estimated $11.1 million for the three-day and $14.6 million over the five-day. The film received an "A" CinemaScore from opening day audiences and played to a crowd that was 65% female and 70% were aged 25 or older.

Internationally, Breakthrough is now in its second weekend and playing in 20 key markets where it added another $2.8 million this weekend for an overseas total that now stands at a $5.9 million. The film's top market is Brazil where it has already grossed $3.8 million after two weekends in release.

Disney also landed in fourth position with an excellent performance from Captain Marvel, which saw a +6% increase over last weekend despite losing 322 locations. The film played in 2,653 theaters this weekend and delivered an estimated $9.1 million for a domestic cume that now tops $400 million. The film is now the 34th film to ever top that figure domestically and the seventh film to reach that mark in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The film also added another $6.5 million this weekend overseas for an international cume that now stands at $689.5 million and a global tally that is now $1.089 billion.

Rounding out the top five is Universal's Little, which dipped -45% in its second weekend with an estimated $8.45 million for a domestic cume just shy of $30 million. The film also added another $1.4 million internationally for an overseas cume that now stands at $4.8 million and a worldwide tally topping $34 million.

Finishing outside the top ten is Disneynature's Penguins, which brought in an estimated $2.3 million over the three-day after opening on Wednesday. The performance comes in below expectations and is the worst debut for a Disneynature film yet, even if you take into account the overall $3.3 million it took in over its first five days of release. Penguins received an "A" CinemaScore from opening day audiences and played to a crowd that was 56% female and 48% were aged 25 or older.

Also outside the top ten, Fox International's Kalank opened in 320 locations on Wednesday and delivered an estimated $1.3 million over the three day for a $1.8 million five-day debut. The film also debuted in two Fox markets this weekend led by a $9.5 million opening in India.

Additionally, Bleecker Street expanded the release of Teen Spirit into 696 theaters (+692) and brought in $250,536 for a disappointing $360 per theater average. While not the worst ever, the performance does rank inside the top 25 worst all-time.

In limited release, A24's Under the Silver Lake delivered an estimated $40,157 from two locations for a chart-topping $20,079 per theater average. The film from David Robert Mitchell will expand into top markets next weekend while simultaneously launching on home entertainment platforms on April 23. Additionally, Neon's release of Little Woods opened with $66,415 from 33 theaters ($2,013 PTA); IFC's Red Joan debuted in four theaters with an estimated $40,631 ($10,158 PTA); Lionsgate's Fast Color opened with an estimated $37,500 from 25 theaters ($1,500 PTA); Magnolia's Hail Satan? opened in three locations with an estimated $25,700 ($8,567 PTA); Film Arcade's Family debuted with $20,400 in three theaters ($6,800 PTA); and Zeitgeist debuted the documentary Be Natural: The Untold Story of Alice Guy-Blaché in one location with an estimated $3,801.

Next weekend sees the release of Avengers: Endgame, which will debut in over 4,400 locations and has already seen estimates as high as the never-before-reached $300 million for the film's opening weekend.