'Prada 2' keeps box office crown

Fashion sequel beats strong opening of 'Mortal Kombat II'

LOS ANGELES:

Fashion comedy sequel 'The Devil Wears Prada 2' continued its dominant run at the North American box office, holding on to the number one position for a second straight weekend despite a powerful debut from action thriller 'Mortal Kombat II', industry estimates showed.

The Disney/20th Century film earned $43 million across cinemas in the United States and Canada over the weekend, pushing its worldwide total to an impressive $433 million. The sequel reunites original cast members Anne Hathaway, Meryl Streep, Emily Blunt and Stanley Tucci nearly two decades after the original 2006 hit became a pop culture phenomenon.

Streep once again plays the feared fashion editor Miranda Priestly, a character widely believed to be inspired by longtime Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour. Her performance in the original film earned both a Golden Globe award and an Oscar nomination.

Close behind in second place was 'Mortal Kombat II', which opened strongly with $40 million domestically for Warner Bros.. Based on the popular video game franchise, the fantasy martial arts sequel significantly outperformed the pandemic-era launch of its predecessor.

Industry analyst David A Gross described the debut as "an excellent opening" for an action thriller sequel, noting that the weekend figures were well above average for the genre. Biographical drama 'Michael' slipped to third place but still generated $36.5 million over the weekend. The Lionsgate production stars Jaafar Jackson, nephew of late pop icon Michael Jackson, in his acting debut. The film has now crossed $575 million globally.

Family mystery 'The Sheep Detectives' opened in fourth place with $15.9 million. The Amazon MGM Studios production stars Hugh Jackman as a shepherd whose sheep attempt to solve his murder.

Rounding out the top five was 'Billie Eilish: Hit Me Hard and Soft – The Tour Live in 3D', directed by James Cameron, which debuted with $7.5 million.