‘Bad Guys’ bests ‘The Northman,’ Nick Cage at the box office

By JAKE COYLE
AP Film Writer

NEW YORK (AP) — On an unusually crowded weekend at movie theaters that featured a pricey Viking epic and Nicolas Cage playing himself, DreamWorks Animation’s “The Bad Guys” bested the field. That signals a continued resurgence for family moviegoing after a downturn during the pandemic. “The Bad Guys” debuted with $24 million in U.S. and Canada ticket sales, according to studio estimates Sunday. That came despite steep competition for families from “Sonic The Hedgehog 2,” which stayed in second place with $15.2 million its third week of release. The weekend’s other new releases — Robert Eggers’ “The Northman” and the Cage-starring “The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent” — didn’t do as well but still fared reasonably solidly in their first weekend.