Latest Spider-Man spin-off scales box-office heights

“Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse”

“Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse” snared North American viewers in its web this weekend, earning $35.4 million in ticket sales, industry tracker Exhibitor Relations estimated on Sunday.

Sony’s action-packed animated movie sees Peter Parker make way for Miles Morales as Spider-Man—a black, Latino character new to theater-goers, but not comic book enthusiasts.

The Spider-Man of his dimension, Morales, voiced by Shameik Moore, joins forces with Spideys from parallel realities to stop a threat menacing all of them.

In at second was Warner Bros’ crime film “The Mule,” which earned $17.2 million. Clint Eastwood both directed and took the lead as a destitute 90-year-old who turns to transporting cocaine through Illinois for a Mexican drug cartel.

“Dr. Seuss’ The Grinch” dropped one place to third, earning $11.6 million over the weekend. Benedict Cumberbatch voices the grouchy title character.

Fourth place went to “Ralph Breaks the Internet,” which took in $9.6 million after spending three weeks at the top of the box office. The animated film, a sequel to 2012’s “Wreck-It Ralph,” has sold $154 million in domestic tickets since it opened.

In at fifth was Universal’s newly-released “Mortal Engines,” whose ticket sales stalled at $7.5 million.

The post-apocalyptic sci-fi film sees Hera Hilmar star as the only person who can stop the city of London—now a colossal wheeled predator—from chomping up all in its path.

Rounding out the weekend’s top 10 were: “Creed II” ($5.4 million), “Bohemian Rhapsody” ($4.1 million), “Instant Family” ($3.7 million), “Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald” ($3.7 million) and “Green Book” ($2.8 million). —AFP