It wasn't exactly an evenly matched clash of superheroes at the Stateside box office this weekend, given that Wonder Woman and Captain Underpants were targeting different audiences. Still, there was a clear ruler of the charts, with Gal Gadot's warrior woman taking home an impressive $100 million, according to studio estimates.
The domestic figure alone means that Patty Jenkins now holds the record for highest opening for a female director, and the movie seems set to topple other records. Worldwide, the take now stands at a huge $223 million, higher than several other superhero starts. Clearly there was an appetite for Diana Prince's adventures, and you've got to think that Warner Bros. will kick-start development on a sequel as soon as possible, to supplement the character's return in the two Justice League team-up movies.
DreamWorks Animation's Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie (to give it its full, franchise-baiting title) took second place with $23.5 million, but with few budget figures floating around, it's too soon to tell if it'll kick off another series for the studio. It's not on the same level as The Boss Baby earlier this year, but it was reportedly the lowest-budgeted DreamWorks movie yet, which may stand in its favour.
Pirates Of The Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales (awkwardly re-subtitled to Salazar's Revenge here) sank to third with $21.6 million, but crossed the $100 million mark in its second week. Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 2, which has been in the charts for five weeks, still managed to score $9.7 million and is still one of the higher-grossing movies of the year, down a couple of places to fourth. But falling faster is Baywatch, which dropped to fifth from third and took in $8.5 million.
Alien: Covenant slipped to sixth on $4 million, with Everything, Everything pushed to seventh and $3.3 million. Snatched was down to eighth with $1.3 million, while Diary Of A Wimpy Kid: The Long Haul felt the sting of new young audience competition and dropped to ninth with $1.2 million. Finally, at 10th we have King Arthur: Legend Of The Sword earning $1.1 million. With a poor US showing of $37.1 million and a relatively paltry $129 million global take so far, we wouldn't expect this to kick off the much-vaunted connected universe unless Warners can make a good argument for ploughing ahead. Even Pacific Rim, boosted by its reception in China, managed to double its original production costs... Arthur has yet to reach that, to say nothing of the advertising expenses.