The third installment in the Denzel Washington-led Equalizer franchise topped the domestic box office this weekend with US$34.5 million according to studio estimates Sunday.

By the end of the Monday Sony expects that total will rise to US$42 million. US Labour Day signals the end of Hollywood’s summer movie season, which will surpass US$4 billion in ticket sales for the first time since the pandemic, thanks in no small part to Barbie and Oppenheimer, which are still netting records even after seven weeks in cinemas.

This weekend, Greta Gerwig’s Barbie officially became the biggest movie of 2023 with over US$1.36 billion globally, surpassing The Super Mario Bros Movie, while Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer sailed past US$850 million globally to become the #3 movie of the year and Nolan’s third-highest grossing.

The Equalizer 3 arrived at a fraught time for Hollywood, with actors seven weeks into a strike for fair contracts with major entertainment companies and movie cinemas bracing for a somewhat depleted fall season as a result.

The ongoing strike meant Washington was unable to stump for the movie, which was directed by his frequent collaborator Antoine Fuqua and brings his vigilante character Robert McCall to Italy’s Amalfi coast. While the lack of a major star on a promotional tour would normally be considered a liability for a film’s box office potential, Equalizer 3 may be the rare exception that could withstand a roll-out without Washington’s help simply because it’s a recognisable franchise.

“One of the biggest movie stars in the world took us out on a high note,” said Paul Dergarabedian, the senior media analyst for Comscore. “Studios often coast to Labor Day, but Sony was smart to choose this weekend to open Equalizer 3.

Sony opened the R-rated Equalizer 3 in over 3,900 locations in North America, including on IMAX and premium large format screens, where it opened in line with the previous two films which both went on to make over US$190 million globally. With co-financing from TSG and Eagle Pictures, the film carried a US$70-million production price tag. The film received generally positive reviews from critics (76 per cent on Rotten Tomatoes) and overwhelmingly positive reviews from audiences, who gave it an A on CinemaScore and a five-star PostTrak rating.

Overseas, it made US$26.1 million, contributing to a US$60.6-million global debut.

In second place, Barbie added US$10.6 million over the weekend in the US and Canada, pushing its domestic total to US$609.5 million.

Warner Bros’ other main theatrical offering, Blue Beetle added US$7.3 million to take third. The DC superhero film has grossed US$56.6 million in three weekends in North America. Fourth place went to Sony’s Gran Turismo: Based on a True Story, which is projecting US$6.6 million through Sunday, down 62 per cent from its first place opening weekend, and US$8.5 million including Monday.

Oppenheimer landed in fifth place on the domestic charts with an estimated US$5.5 million (US$7.4 million including estimates for Monday) from 2,543 cinemas. This brings its domestic total to US$310.3 million and its global take to US$851 million.

The Universal film opened in China on Wednesday, playing on 35,000 screens, where it is estimated to have made $30.3 million in its first five days. A significant portion of that (US$9.3 million through Sunday) came from 736 IMAX screens.