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‘Dark Tower’ rises to top at box office

Previous leader “Dunkirk” falls to second in third week

NEW YORK - After a decade of development and several postponements, the long-awaited Stephen King adaptation “The Dark Tower” debuted with an estimated $19.5 million in North American ticket sales, narrowly edging out the two-week leader “Dunkirk.”

The modest result for “The Dark Tower,” starring Idris Elba and Matthew McConaughey, was in line with expectations heading into the weekend but well shy of initial hopes for a possible franchise-starter.

Still, the movie was made for a relatively modest amount: about $60 million, or half of what many other summer movies cost.

By comparison, the recent flop “Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets,” which opened with $17 million, cost at least $180 million to make.

Christopher Nolan’s World War II epic “Dunkirk” slid to second with $17.6 million in its third week. It’s now made $133.6 million domestically. Other holdovers - “The Emoji Movie” ($12.4 million in its second week) and “Girls Trip” ($11.4 million in its third week) followed.

Another long-delayed film also made its debut. The Halle Berry thriller “Kidnap” opened with $10.2 million. The film is styled after the Liam Neeson “Taken” series.

“Kidnap” outperformed the week’s other new wide release, the far more anticipated “Detroit.” The Kathryn Bigelow-directed docudrama is also the first release for an upstart distributor.

“Detroit,” the third collaboration between Bigelow and screenwriter Mark Boal (“The Hurt Locker,” ”Zero Dark Thirty“), reimagines the terror-filled events around the Algiers Motel incident during the 1967 Detroit riots.

Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theatres.

“The Dark Tower,” $19.5 million ($8 million international).

“Dunkirk,” $17.6 million ($25 million international).

“The Emoji Movie,” $12.4 million ($12 million international).

“Girls Trip,” $11.4 million ($1.7 million international).

“Kidnap,” $10.2 million.

“Spider-Man: Homecoming,” $8.8 million ($9.6 million international).

“Atomic Blonde,” $8.2 million ($5 million international).

“Detroit,” $7.3 million.

“War for the Planet of the Apes,” $6 million ($31.5 million international).

“Despicable Me 3,” $5.3 million ($21.2 million international).