'Gran Turismo' barely outraces 'Barbie' in N.America theaters

Sony's sports action film "Gran Turismo" didn't exactly roar to the front of the North American box office, but did make it there on a slow late-August weekend, beating a still-turbo-powered "Barbie."

Based on a popular video game, "Gran Turismo" took in an estimated $17.3 million for the Friday-through-Sunday period, industry watcher Exhibitor Relations reported Sunday.

"This is a lukewarm opening for an action film based on a video game," particularly compared to previous game-based films like "Warcraft" ($439 million in worldwide ticket sales) and "Rampage" ($428 million), analyst David A. Gross said.

The movie stars David Harbour and Orlando Bloom in a story about a racing academy that recruits skilled video gamers to train them as real race-car drivers.

Warner Bros.' "Barbie," meantime, has remained a steady seat-filler, with its $17.1 million take in its sixth week out propelling it to a $594 million domestic total.

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The Greta Gerwig film recently overtook "The Super Mario Bros. Movie" ($574 million) as the year's domestic box office champ. Add to that the $745 million "Barbie" has earned overseas.

Analysts said Sony's accounting of ticket sales for "Gran Turismo" was a bit wonky (including millions in pre-sales) and predicted "Barbie" might, in the final tally, be the weekend's Number One -- as she is Ken's.

Last weekend's leader, superhero flick "Blue Beetle" from DC Studios and Warner Bros., dipped to third, at $12.8 million, a nearly 50 percent drop from the previous weekend. Xolo Mariduena, as the Beetle, became the first live-action Latino protagonist.

In fourth was Universal's "Oppenheimer," earning an estimated $9 million. The atom bomb origin story has now surpassed $300 million in domestic earnings, with an additional $477 million overseas.

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And in fifth place was Paramount's animated "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem," the latest chapter in the heroes-in-a-half-shell saga, at $6.1 million.

Rounding out the top 10 were:

"Meg 2: The Trench" ($5.1 million)

"Strays" ($4.7 million)

"Retribution" ($3.5 million)

"The Hill" ($2.5 million)

"Haunted Mansion" ($2.1 million)

Source: AFP