LOS ANGELES —  Sony’s superhero film Venom held onto the lead this weekend in North American box offices, despite bad reviews, again trailed by last weekend’s number two A Star Is Born, final figures showed yesterday.

Venom took in US$35 million for the three-day weekend, while the well-reviewed Star from Warner Bros. had US$28.4 million in ticket sales. Universal’s highly touted astronaut drama First Man,from Oscar-winning director Damien Chazelle, took in just $16 million in its opening weekend, to place third.

A Star Is Born, the third remake of a 1937 film by the same name, marks the directing debut of actor Bradley Cooper. He plays a hard-drinking country/rock musician who falls in love with a young singer played by pop superstar Lady Gaga, only to see her star rise as his tumbles.

First Man opened with high expectations, reuniting Chazelle with Ryan Gosling, his star from popular musical La La Land. Because of its adult-skewing audience, analysts predict a long run for the film, which recounts Neil Armstrong’s journey to the moon in 1969.

Fourth place went to Sony’s Goosebumps 2: Haunted Halloween, which had ticket sales of $15.8 million. The family-friendly sequel, based on the children’s book series by R.L. Stine, stars Wendi McLendon-Covey and Madison Iseman.

In fifth was Warner Bros. animation Smallfoot, with earnings of $9.1 million. The comic film flips the usual Bigfoot tale on its head, telling the story of a group of Yeti terrified when they come across a human. Voices are by Channing Tatum, James Corden, Zendaya, Common and others. — AFP