Box office: M Night Shyamalan’s ‘Old’ beats ‘Space Jam’ and ‘Snake Eyes’

Box office saw a massive twist when M Night Shyamalan's thriller "Old" dominated the Box office by replacing major movies like "Space Jam: A New Legacy" and "Snake Eyes" from its top spot.

The thriller "Old" is currently holding the number 1 spot at the domestic box office with $16.5 million in ticket sales, reports Variety.

At the international box office, "Old" pulled in $6.5 million from 23 overseas territories for a $20 million global start. That haul represents Shyamalan's lowest opening weekend in history, but the director behind "Unbreakable" and "Split" self-finances his films with modest budgets meaning they don't have to break records to become profitable. "Old" carries an $18 million price tag.

Heading into the weekend, reigning champ "Space Jam: A New Legacy" and fellow newcomer "Snake Eyes" were projected to lead North American charts. Instead, "Space Jam 2" had a huge decline from its opening weekend, and "Snake Eyes" fell slightly short of expectations, leaving "Old" to slither to a surprising first-place finish.

"Snake Eyes" opened in second place with $13.3 million from 3,521 locations. It didn't fare much better overseas, grossing $4 million from 37 markets (29% of its international footprint). That's a disappointing start for a movie that costs $88 million to produce and hails from a well-known property. It didn't help that the PG-13 rated "Snake Eyes" was greeted with weak reviews and a "B-" CinemaScore from audiences.

"Old" arrived with an even worse reception from moviegoers — it landed a "C-" CinemaScore — but Shyamalan's signature twist endings can benefit from a communal viewing experience. Plus, "Old" generated significant social media chatter and has gotten the meme treatment online.

"Space Jam: A New Legacy." The live-action/ animated sports comedy featuring LeBron James fell to fourth place with $9.5 million in its sophomore outing, marking a brutal 69% decline from its $31 million opening weekend.

"Space Jam" came in behind the Scarlett Johansson-led Marvel adventure "Black Widow," now in its third weekend of release. "Black Widow" added another $11.6 million from 4,250 locations, bringing its domestic tally to $154 million in the US and Canada. Though that's a notable result during the pandemic, it's a much lower total than recent installments from the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Universal's "Fast & Furious" sequel "F9" is rounding out the top five on box office charts, adding $4.7 million in its fifth weekend in theaters. The film has made $163 million in North America to date. After more than a month on the big screen, "F9" has become the first Hollywood movie to cross $600 million worldwide since the onset of the pandemic.