"The Nun II" tops North American box office for 2nd straight weekend

Warner Bros. and New Line Cinema's horror thriller "The Nun II" narrowly beat out a newcomer, 20th Century Studios' murder mystery film "A Haunting In Venice," in a close race for No. 1 at the North American box office this weekend with an estimated three-day cume of 14.7 million U.S. dollars, showed figures from the measurement firm Comscore on Sunday.

"The Nun II," directed by Michael Chaves and starring Taissa Farmiga, Jonas Bloquet and Bonnie Aarons, has grossed 56.5 million dollars after 10 days on the big scree in North America for a global total of 158.8 million dollars.

The film is a sequel to 2018's "The Nun," the highest grossing entry in "The Conjuring" Universe. "The Conjuring" Universe, centered on a series of supernatural horror films, is the highest grossing horror franchise in history with over 2 billion dollars worldwide.

"A Haunting In Venice" lagged slightly in second place with a 14.5-million-dollar debut. Based upon Agatha Christie's novel Hallowe'en Party, the film, directed by and starring Kenneth Branagh, is a sequel to last year's "Death on the Nile."

Rounding out the Top 3, Sony Pictures' action film "The Equalizer 3" earned 7.2 million dollars on its third weekend for a North American cume of 73.7 million dollars.