Other Mommy leads North American box Office as Verity, Resident Evil round out top four

The horror flick "Other Mommy", starring Oscar winner Jessica Chastain, debuted atop the North American box office with $27.5 million in ticket sales, while awards hopeful "The Social Reckoning" flopped with a weak start, industry estimates showed Sunday. "Other Mommy", from Universal and Blumhouse, stars Chastain in a dual role as a sinister entity terrorising a child -- made even worse by the fact that the demon resembles the girl's mother. The film triumphed despite poor reviews and audience reception, according to analyst David A. Gross of Franchise Entertainment Research.

"Horror movies are generally immune to a negative reception, but this is extreme, and business is going to drop sharply," said Gross. "The idea of a possessed and frightening mom, played by Jessica Chastain, is attracting audiences and should work around the world before poor word-of-mouth catches up with it."

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"Verity," Amazon MGM's psychological thriller based on a novel by Colleen Hoover, dropped from first to second place at $11.5 million, according to Exhibitor Relations. It stars Anne Hathaway and Dakota Johnson.

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In third place was Sony's "Resident Evil", with $8.4 million this weekend, bringing its North American total to $138.5 million. It has raked in another $181 million abroad. Paramount's "Heart of the Beast", starring Brad Pitt as a former soldier and his loyal but traumatised combat dog as they survive in the Alaskan wilderness, finished in fourth place with $7.1 million.

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Opening in fifth place at just $5.5 million was Facebook drama "The Social Reckoning", the hotly anticipated sequel to the award-winning 2010 film "The Social Network", which told the origin story of Mark Zuckerberg's social media empire. "The Social Reckoning", written and directed by Aaron Sorkin, stars Oscar-winning Mikey Madison as real-life Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen, who leaked internal documents to a reporter (Jeremy Allen White) revealing some of the company's more nefarious practices. Jeremy Strong plays Zuckerberg, a role taken on in the original film by Jesse Eisenberg.

"Stories about corporate intrigue, money and power have found a home on TV. They lack the cinematic qualities that excite big screen audiences, like emotion, spectacle and fantasy," Gross said.

Rounding out the top 10:

"Forgotten Island" ($4.5 million)

"Primetime" ($4 million)

"Digger" ($3.2 million)

"Angel and the Badman" ($2.1 million)

"The Odyssey" ($2 million)