‘Wonder Woman’ repeats box office victory with $57.2M

LOS ANGELES — Different weekend, similar story: “Wonder Woman” is box office royalty.

The Warner Bros. and DC Comics standalone will have earned $57.2 million from 4,165 theaters during its second weekend, putting it solidly in first place. That’s only a 45% drop from its opening weekend, giving the film an estimated $205 million domestically in two weekends.

The Gal Gadot-starrer also made more during its second frame than did both “Suicide Squad” and “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice,” despite those films having larger opening weekends than “Wonder Woman” ($133.7 million for “Suicide Squad” and $166 million for “Batman v Superman”). Unlike those two films, Patty Jenkins’ has critical support — a current 93% on Rotten Tomatoes.

Universal’s “The Mummy,” meanwhile, is counting on a strong overseas total to make up for less impressive domestic earnings. As of Sunday morning, the film is eyeing $32.2 million from 4,035 locations. That’s a slow start for the film intended to launch an extended universe of monster-related titles.

Alex Kurtzman directed “The Mummy,” a revival of the franchise spawned by Universal’s 1932 original and re-popularized by Stephen Sommers’ 1999 fright-fest starring Brendan Fraser, and the three other Mummy films that followed. In the 2017 update, Cruise plays a freelance treasure hunter who resurrects a princess (Sofia Boutella). Annabelle Wallis, Jake Johnson, Courtney B. Vance, and Russell Crowe are also in the mix.

Following what has proven to be a highly lucrative model for Marvel and DC Comics, “The Mummy” was announced as the kick-off to a “Dark Universe” of monster movies. 2014’s “Dracula Untold,” it turns out, is not canon. The studio that was built on classics including “Dracula,” “The Wolf Man,” and “Frankenstein” has already slated a “Bride of Frankenstein” movie for 2019 with half a dozen or so others in the works.

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Cruise mostly recently opened “Jack Reacher: Never Go Back” to a $22.9 million domestic opening, “Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation” to $55.5 million, and “Edge of Tomorrow” to $28.9 million. Cruise with reunite with “Edge” director Doug Liman for Universal’s “American Made.” The studio dropped the trailer for the crime-centric action biopic on Monday, presumably a strategic move to get audiences excited about its star.

But that couldn’t save “The Mummy” from having the lowest domestic opening of any in the recent iteration of the franchise — 1999’s “The Mummy,” ($43.3 million); 2001’s “The Mummy Returns,” ($68.1 million); 2002’s “The Scorpion King,” ($36.1 million); 2008’s “The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor,” ($40.5 million).