Dr Michael Morbius (Jared Leto) in Columbia Pictures' 'Morbius'
Dr Michael Morbius (Jared Leto) in Columbia Pictures' 'Morbius' Image Credit: Supplied

The vampire movie ‘Morbius’ topped the North American box office this weekend, albeit with an opening take seen as lackluster for a comic book superhero flick at $39.1 million, Exhibitor Relations said Sunday.

The Columbia Pictures film, distributed by Sony and starring Jared Leto as an anti-hero, is adapted from Marvel comics. The character Morbius was originally introduced as a Spider-Man villain.

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Dr. Michael Morbius (Jared Leto) in Columbia Pictures' MORBIUS. Image Credit: AP

In this story Michael Morbius is a Nobel prize-winning doctor who by accident turns himself into a blood sucker while working to cure a blood disease.

“This is a weak opening by Marvel’s exceptional standard for launching a new superhero series,” said Franchise Entertainment Research.

The Venom character also started within the Spider-Man story, and by comparison ‘Venom 1’ opened with an $80 million box office take in October 2018, it said.

“Critics are saying the Jared Leto vampire film sucks,” said the news outlet TheStreet.

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Sandra Bullock and Channing Tatum star in Paramount Pictures' "THE LOST CITY." Image Credit: AP

Last weekend’s leader, Paramount’s new action romance ‘The Lost City’ took in $14.8 million for the Friday through Sunday period as it dropped to second place.

In it Sandra Bullock plays a romance novelist kidnapped by a twisted tycoon (Daniel Radcliffe of ‘Harry Potter’ fame) who wants her to help him find a buried artifact on a remote island.

Channing Tatum, as a male book-cover model whose abs are sharper than his mind, does his best to help her escape - even as a volcano erupts.

In its fifth weekend in theaters the Warner Bros’ dark superhero movie ‘The Batman’ scored a take of $10.8 million as it took third place. Robert Pattinson plays the title role.

Remaining in fourth place for the second straight week was Sony’s ‘Uncharted,’ at $3.6 million. Tom Holland plays an Indiana Jones-style treasure hunter.