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'Woman King' rules N. American box office

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Agence France-Presse

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img alt="The Woman King is the remarkable story of the Agojie, the all-female unit of warriors who protected the African Kingdom of Dahomey in the 1800s with skills and a fierceness unlike anything the world has ever seen. Handout" src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2022/entertainment/09/18/20220918-woman-king.jpg"/><figcaption>The Woman King is the remarkable story of the Agojie, the all-female unit of warriors who protected the African Kingdom of Dahomey in the 1800s with skills and a fierceness unlike anything the world has ever seen. Handout</figcaption></figure></div>LOS ANGELES, United States - &quot;The Woman King,&quot; an epic about an all-female army of African warriors, easily topped the North American box office this weekend with an estimated take of $19 million, industry watcher Exhibitor Relations reported Sunday.The new Sony release, loosely based on a true historical episode, stars Oscar-winner Viola Davis as the fierce general who leads an army known as the Agojie as it protects the 18th-century kingdom of Dahomey. Days earlier, Davis told AFP that she felt &quot;conflicted&quot; because if the Black-led, woman-dominated film fell short, it would unfairly damage the prospects for future such endeavors.Instead, boosted by a favorable critical reception -- &quot;Reviews are sensational,&quot; said the FranchiseRe website -- it exceeded analysts&#x27; expectations, more than tripling the ticket sales of the next-highest finisher, 20th Century&#x27;s &quot;Barbarian.&quot;That horror film tells the story of a woman (Georgina Campbell) who checks into an AirBnB rental in a sketchy Detroit neighborhood only to find it has also been booked by an oh-so-creepy Bill Skarsgard. &quot;Barbarian&quot; took in $6.3 million for the Friday-through-Sunday period.In third place was a slasher film, &quot;Pearl,&quot; a new low-budget release from A24, with ticket sales just over $3.1 million. Mia Goth stars in a blood-soaked tale that involves the brutal use of both an axe and a pitchfork, on animals and humans. Enough said.Searchlight&#x27;s comic mystery &quot;See How They Run&quot; placed fourth in its opening weekend, at $3.1 million.Sam Rockwell stars as an often-inebriated Scotland Yard detective, Saoirse Ronan as his eager but hapless assistant, and Adrien Brody as a sleazy Hollywood director in London to make a film version of Agatha Christie classic &quot;The Mousetrap&quot; -- until fate intervenes. And in fifth place was Sony action thriller &quot;Bullet Train,&quot; starring Brad Pitt, at $2.5 million.Rounding out the top 10 were:&quot;Top Gun: Maverick&quot; ($2.2 million)&quot;DC League of Super-Pets&quot; ($2.2 million)&quot;The Invitation&quot; ($1.7 million)&quot;Minions: The Rise of Gru&quot; ($1.3 million)<figure class="op-interactive"><iframe height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Urnw1iqXI9E?enablejsapi=1" width="560"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more News on <a href="https://www.iwanttfc.com/#!/browse/Genres/News/tag_id_genres/id_news" target="_blank">iWantTFC</a></div>

'The Woman King,' an epic about an all-female army of African warriors, easily topped the North American box office this weekend with an estimated take of $19 million, industry watcher Exhibitor Relations reported Sunday.