"Downton Abbey: A New Era" opened in second place domestically last weekend and with a much weaker debut than its 2019 predecessor, as a key demographic for the film, older women, proves to be one of the most difficult to persuade back into theaters.
The film, from Comcast Corp.'s Focus Features division, generated $16 million in domestic ticket sales, Comscore Inc. estimated on Sunday. That was below the $20 million forecast from Boxoffice Pro and in line with low-to-mid-teen millions the studio had projected.
"Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness," the latest Marvel installment from Walt Disney Co., was on top of the box office for the third straight week. It sold $31.6 million in domestic tickets over the weekend, Comscore estimated.
Released by the Walt Disney Co. and directed by Sam Raimi, "Doctor Strange 2" benefited from being the first Marvel movie to follow "Spider-Man: No Way Home," in which Benedict Cumberbatch's sorcerer played a pivotal role.
It also builds upon the popular Disney+ series "Wandavision" and contains a number of cameos that fans didn't want to be spoiled.
"This film ["Doctor Strange"] has had a pretty wide open marketplace," said Paul Dergarabedian, the senior media analyst for Comscore. "This [past] weekend really [was], this [was] the proverbial calm before the storm."
That storm will come in the form of the long-awaited, and long-delayed, release of "Top Gun: Maverick," the sequel that arrives today on Memorial Day weekend, 36 years after the original smash hit and cultural landmark.
It flies in amid sky-high hype.
"The marketing for this movie has really been going on for about three years." Dergarabedian said. "That's a pretty long runway to guild up excitement."
Cruise had the film festival in Cannes, France, abuzz on May 18 with a whirlwind appearance for the film's European premiere that included a fly over of French fighter jets and an honorary Palme d'Or award.
"Top Gun" represents two seemingly fading phenomena -- the major movie star and the big-screen-only experience, for which Cruise has been a tireless ambassador. And the industry is hoping they will help bring a more familiar summer for theaters.
"This is going to be one of the most important Memorial Day weekends ever, considering what the stakes are," Dergarabedian said. "We didn't have a traditional summer movie season for two years."
New to cinemas last weekend was A24's "Men," which landed in fifth place at the domestic box office with $3.3 million. Directed and written by Alex Garland, the divisive horror flick received 75% rating on Rotten Tomatoes and a dreadful D-plus from audiences polled by CinemaScore.
Rounding out the top five are Universal Pictures' "The Bad Guys," which notched $6.1 million in its fifth weekend for a North American cumulative of $74.4 million, and Paramount Pictures' "Sonic the Hedgehog 2," which grossed $3.9 million in its seventh weekend for a North American cumulative of $181 million.
It's also worth noting that "Everything Everywhere All At Once" has officially surpassed "Uncut Gems" as A24's most lucrative domestic release of all time. The beloved Michelle Yeoh epic amassed $3.1 million in its ninth weekend for a North American cumulative of $52.3 million.
Opening in wide release this weekend -- besides "Top Gun: Maverick" -- is 20th Century Studios' "The Bob's Burgers Movie," another film spinoff of a popular TV franchise.