The highly anticipated neurosurgeon-turned-sorcerer sequel, which sees Marvel hero Benedict Cumberbatch explore parallel worlds, grossed $187 million in its first three days in theaters last week.

Internationally, the film has grossed $396 million since its release.

A distant second was the animated film "The Bad Guys," outlaw animals that try to become nice, with just $6.9 million from Friday to Sunday.

Like last week, the blue hedgehog from "Sonic 2" completes the podium in third place with $4.6 million.

New to theaters, "Firestarter," a half-crime, half-fantasy film based on a novel by genre master Stephan King, got off to a disappointing start with a fourth-place finish and just $3.8 million in revenue.

Zac Efron and Sydney Lemmon play the parents of Ryan Kiera Armstrong, an 11-year-old girl with extraordinary pyrokinesis abilities who is being hunted down by a mysterious government agency that would like to use her fire-triggering abilities to create a weapon of mass destruction.

The film was slammed by critics and garnered just 12% positive reviews on Rotten Tomatoes, which aggregates ratings from different sources.

It's quite the opposite for "Everything Everywhere All at Once".

With 96% of favorable opinions, this feature film with Michelle Yeoh also traveling to the absurd in the universe of parallel worlds, completes the top 5 with 3.3 million dollars in revenue for its 8th week in dark rooms.

Here is the rest of the Top 10:

6. "Fantastic Beasts: Dumbledore's Secrets ($2.4 million)

7. "The Secret of the Lost City" (1.7 million)

8. "The Northman" (1.7 million)

9. "Family Camp" (1.4 million)

10. "Solid Gold Talent" (1.1 million)

© 2022 AFP