Los Angeles, 6 Oct

This weekend's box office belonged to two undeniable draws: Taylor Swift and Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson.

It might have looked like a heavyweight matchup, but Swift's devoted fanbase once again proved unstoppable with her film ‘The Official Release Party of a Show Girl’, which debuted at No 1 with USD 33 million in North America, according to Sunday estimates from Comscore.

The AMC Theatres release — announced only two weeks ago with minimal promotion — served as a companion piece to Swift's 12th studio album, packaging music videos, behind-the-scenes footage and profanity-free lyric visuals into an 89-minute experience.

The film played at all 540 AMC theatres in the US for three days, ending on Sunday. AMC aired the show in Mexico, Canada and across Europe.

“For Taylor Swift to harness the power of the movie theatre to build her brand, create excitement among her fans, and create a communal experience outside of her touring, outside of her live performances, is really a stroke of genius,” said Paul Dergarabedian, the senior media analyst for Comscore. “To be able to add another USD 33 million to the box office bottom line is much welcomed by theatre owners who were looking for content for their big screens.”

It comes nearly two years after her 'The Eras Tour' concert film opened to USD 96 million, with Swift extending her streak of box office dominance.

Meanwhile, Johnson saw a more modest showing. His A24 drama ‘The Smashing Machine’, co-starring Emily Blunt, opened in third place with a mere USD 6 million, trailing Paul Thomas Anderson's ‘One Battle After Another’, which earned USD 11.1 million and has now accumulated USD 107 million globally.

Despite strong reviews and a 15-minute standing ovation at the Venice Film Festival -- where Johnson drew praise for portraying MMA legend Mark Kerr — the film marked one of the lowest openings as a lead.

“When major movie stars branch out into more indie roles, like Tom Cruise in 'Magnolia', they're trying to redefine their career," Dergarabedian said. “They can straddle both universes, so Dwayne Johnson and all the acclaim he's getting. That prestige factor. That's the currency. He knows box office. He studies this and he's a business person. But also realize that when you go outside of your comfort zone, it puts him in a certain light... Dwayne Johnson is redefining what he can do.”

Beyond the two marquee names, the rest of the weekend lineup offered a wide mix ranging from animated adventures to horror sequels and international releases.

DreamWorks Animation's family adventure ‘Gabby's Dollhouse: The Movie’ debuted in fourth place with USD 5.2 million, expanding the popular Netflix preschool series to the big screen.

Warner Bros' supernatural thriller ‘The Conjuring: Last Rites’ followed in fifth with USD 4 million, pulling in USD 458.2 million globally.

In sixth was ‘Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – Infinity Castle’, the latest entry in the hit Japanese anime saga, earning USD 3.5 million.

A re-release of ‘Avatar: The Way of Water’ made a splash in seventh with USD 3.1 million — a solid return for the 2022 blockbuster ahead of ‘Avatar: The Fire and Ash’ on 19 December.

Rounding out the top 10 were ‘The Strangers: Chapter 2’ with USD 2.8 million, the IFC dark comedy ‘Good Boy’ with USD 2.2 million, marking the company's second-best opening weekend ever. ‘Kantara: A Legend – Chapter 1’ with USD 1.7 million.

Dergarabedian said he's looking forward to October films such as ‘Tron: Ares’, ‘Kiss of the Spider Woman’ and ‘Roofman’, starring Channing Tatum.