New 'Final Destination' film slays N. America box office

LOS ANGELES, United States — "Final Destination: Bloodlines," the latest installment in the horror franchise, made a grisly splash in North American theaters this weekend, taking in $51 million to debut in the top spot, industry estimates showed Sunday.

"This is a sensational opening for the sixth episode of a horror series," said David A. Gross of Franchise Entertainment Research, adding that critics' reviews and audience scores were "excellent."

The previous film in the franchise, "Final Destination 5," opened in 2011 to just $18 million.

Kaitlyn Santa Juana stars in the Warner Bros. flick as a young woman who learns how her dying grandmother long ago cheated Death -- and she now has to deal with the shocking ramifications of that.

In second for the Friday-through-Sunday period was last weekend's leader, Marvel superhero film "Thunderbolts" from Disney, at $16.5 million. The film about a motley bunch of antiheroes stars Florence Pugh and Sebastian Stan.

Vampire thriller "Sinners" starring Michael B. Jordan in dual lead roles, claimed the third spot, taking in $15.4 million, industry watcher Exhibitor Relations estimated.

"Bloodlines" and "Sinners" continued a recent string of successes for Warner Bros., on the heels of commercial flops "Mickey 17," "The Alto Knights" and "Joker: Folie a Deux," Variety noted.

Yet another Warner film, "A Minecraft Movie," placed fourth, at $5.8 million. The live-action film, starring Jack Black and Jason Momoa, has pulled in $416.6 million domestically and $512 million internationally in seven weeks.

And in fifth place, at just under $5 million, was Amazon MGM Studios' thriller "The Accountant 2," with Ben Affleck playing a neurodivergent math genius with criminal ties and Jon Bernthal as his hit-man brother.

Rounding out the top 10 were:

"Hurry Up Tomorrow" ($3.3 million)
"Friendship" ($1.4 million)
"Clown in a Cornfield" ($1.3 million)
"Until Dawn" ($800,000)
"The Amateur" ($712,000)