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'Nun II' narrowly outscares 'Haunting' in N.America theaters

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Agence France Presse

LOS ANGELES, United States - Warner Bros. thriller &quot;The Nun II&quot; kept a narrow lead on a mostly spiritless North American weekend with an estimated take of $14.7 million, industry watcher Exhibitor Relations reported Sunday.This ninth chapter in &quot;The Conjuring&quot; series, a gothic tale of spiritual possessions featuring a demonic, red-eyed goat, stars Taissa Farmiga, Belgian actor Jonas Bloquet and Storm Reid.20th Century&#x27;s &quot;A Haunting in Venice,&quot; the latest Kenneth Branagh take on an Agatha Christie mystery, had an estimated $14.5 million in ticket sales. (Since it trailed &quot;Nun&quot; by only $200,000, the ultimate weekend winner may be decided only on Monday.)With Branagh both directing and making his latest big-moustached role as Belgian flatfoot Hercules Poirot, the movie took in an estimated $14.5 million for the Friday-through-Sunday period.&quot;This is a lukewarm domestic opening&quot; for the genre, said analyst David A. Gross, while adding that with a $60 million budget, &quot;the movie isn’t going to lose money after it finishes playing in the foreign markets.&quot;The film has a skeptical Poirot being lured out of retirement to attend a seance where -- not-much-of-a-spoiler alert! -- someone is murdered. Tina Fey and Michelle Yeoh also star.The weekend&#x27;s third top moneymaker, at $7.2 million, was Sony&#x27;s &quot;The Equalizer 3&quot; starring Denzel Washington in his latest portrayal of a retired US Marine and drug-enforcement agent taking on an endless stream of bad guys.In fourth spot was another sequel, &quot;My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3,&quot; from Focus Features and Universal Pictures. It earned an estimated $4.7 million. Nia Vardalos, again playing the central character, directs.And heroically hanging on in fifth spot in its ninth weekend out was Warner Bros.&#x27; &quot;Barbie.&quot; The Greta Gerwig film had ticket sales of $3.9 million.<div>Rounding out the top 10 were:</div>&quot;Jawan&quot; ($2.5 million)&quot;Blue Beetle&quot; ($2.5 million)&quot;Gran Turismo&quot; ($2.4 million)&quot;Oppenheimer&quot; ($2.1 million)&quot;Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle: Mutant Mayhem&quot; ($2 million)

Warner Bros. thriller 'The Nun II' kept a narrow lead on a mostly spiritless North American weekend with an estimated take of $14.7 million, industry watcher Exhibitor Relations reported Sunday.