The Curse of La Llorona rocks North American box office

New horror film The Curse Of La Llorona has scared up a storm to debut at the top of the North American box office over the Easter holiday weekend (19-21Apr19).
The Mummy star Patricia Velasquez plays a mother struggling to protect her children from the vengeful entity, who, according to Latin American legend, killed her two sons after finding her husband in bed with another woman – and then drowned herself, leaving her doomed to roam the earth, looking for children to replace her own.
The scary story, which was directed by Michael Chaves and produced by horror filmmaker James Wan, grossed an impressive $26.5 million (£20.4 million) to take the number one spot, even though the North American box office suffered its worst Easter slump in 14 years.
The Curse of La Llorona, made on a $9 million (£6.9 million) budget, also did well in a slow weekend outside of the U.S. and Canada, bumping its opening take to $56.4 million (£43.4 million).
Meanwhile, back in the North American box office chart, Shazam! slips to second place with $17.3 million (£13.3 million) after a two-week run at number one. The DC Comics superhero blockbuster, starring Zachary Levi in the titular role, has now earned $322.8 million (£248.4 million) worldwide.
In third place is actress Chrissy Metz’s faith-based film Breakthrough, while Captain Marvel comes fourth as it continues to be a popular pick with fans in its seventh week on release.
The Disney and Marvel movie has now become the 11th comic book adaptation to crack the $400 million (£307.8 million) milestone in North America.
Comedy Little, featuring Regina Hall, Issa Rae and Marsai Martin, rounds out the new top five at five.