Warner Bros.’ ‘Sinners,’ directed by Ryan Coogler and starring Michael B. Jordan, went into its second weekend only to beat all expectations. The period vampire film was projected to battle ‘The Accountant 2,’ starring Ben Affleck, for the top spot, with both expected to earn between $20 million and $25 million.

‘Sinners’ easily maintained its No. 1 position domestically with a remarkable $45.7 million — a 5% dip from its $48 million debut.

To put it in perspective, ‘Sinners’ now claims the smallest second-weekend drop for any movie opening above $40 million since 2009’s ‘Avatar,’ and it’s the best-ever hold for an R-rated horror film. By Sunday, the film had grossed $123.2 million domestically and $163.2 million worldwide. With a production budget of $90 million, ‘Sinners’ is blowing past early doubts that it would be a financial disappointment.

Boosted by near-perfect audience scores and the strongest reviews of Coogler’s celebrated career, ‘Sinners’ has turned into a true word-of-mouth phenomenon — a major win for Warner Bros. executives Pamela Abdy and Michael De Luca. The film’s audience is also expanding across demographics: while males accounted for 56% of the opening weekend crowd, females now make up half of the viewers.

Other strong contributors to the booming box office include Disney’s rerelease of ‘Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith’ (marking its 20th anniversary) and Amazon MGM Studios’ new action-thriller ‘The Accountant 2.’ Warner Bros.' ‘A Minecraft Movie’ also continues to perform strongly, still holding a top position in its fourth weekend as it surpasses $800 million globally.

‘Revenge of the Sith’ narrowly edged out ‘The Accountant 2’ for second place, pulling in an estimated $25.2 million, one of the best openings for a rerelease. The top spot for rerelease openings still belongs to 1977’s ‘Star Wars,’ which brought in $35.9 million during its 1997 rerelease (unadjusted for inflation), according to Comscore.

Internationally, ‘Revenge of the Sith’ added another $17 million, bringing its global weekend total to $42.2 million.

‘The Accountant 2’ also posted impressive numbers, opening to an estimated $24.6 million, bolstered by strong reviews and positive audience reactions, including an A- CinemaScore. The film’s success is a notable achievement for Amazon MGM Studios as it builds its theatrical presence, now also being the home of the James Bond franchise. Notably, 27% of the opening weekend audience was aged 50 or older, a demographic that can often be difficult to capture.

The original ‘Accountant,’ released by Warner Bros. in 2016, debuted with $24.7 million and went on to gross $155.5 million worldwide (not adjusted for inflation), later becoming the most-rented digital film of 2017.

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