“Tenet III” debuts to $58.7 million

” tenet three ’ surpassed its weight at the domestic box office in its first weekend in theaters. The opening weekend of the first two films in the series.

“Tenet III” played in 4,007 locations in North America, earning an estimated $58 million, according to studio estimates on Sunday. Heading into the weekend, analysts expect the movie to take in around $30 million. The first “Tenet” debuted in 2015 with $29 million, and “Tenet II” opened in 2018 with $35 million.

Michael B. Jordan made his directorial debut with Creed III. Jonathan MajorsIt was the first Rocky/Tenet film to not feature Sylvester Stallone, who chose not to return due to creative differences.

Strong reviews helped “Tenet III,” which currently holds an 87% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, while audiences gave it an A- on CinemaScore. According to exit polls, the audience is predominantly male (63%), diverse (36% Black, 28% Latino, 23% White and 13% Asian/Other) and young (55% between the ages of 18 and 34 ).

It’s also the most expensive “Tenet” movie, with a reported production budget of $75 million, compared to the $35 million and $50 million production budgets of the other two films.

“Ant-Man 3” fell to No. 2 in its third weekend in theaters.

The third place is Universal’s ” cocaine bearwhich added $11 million in its second weekend, bringing its domestic total to $41.3 million.

Crunchyroll’s “Demon Slayer: Demon Slayer: To The Swordsmith Village” came in fourth with $10.1 million. Based on the manga by Koyoharu Gotoge, the series tells the story of a boy who seeks revenge for his family.

Lionsgate and Kingdom Story Company’s “Jesus Revolution” rounded out the top five with $8.7 million. The 1970s Priest film starring Kelsey Grammer made $30.5 million in its two weekends in theaters on a production budget of $15 million.

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Follow Associated Press film writer Lindsay Barr on Twitter: www.twitter.com/ldbahr.