BOX OFFICE: ‘DOWNTON ABBEY 2’ STARTS STRONG WITH $16 MILLION AS ‘DOCTOR STRANGE’ RULES AGAIN

The Crawley family still has the royal touch at the box office. “Downton Abbey: A New Era,” a sequel to the bigscreen continuation of the beloved British television show, captured $16 million from 3,815 North American theatres in its domestic debut. Though down slightly from initial projects, those returns mark an encouraging start at a time when older audiences have been selective about going to the movies. There had been understandable concern about the second “Downton Abbey” in terms of commercial prospects, and not because long-time fans of the series had tired of devouring the onscreen palace intrigue and class-system drama. Other than “House of Gucci” and James Bond sequel “No Time to Die,” many pandemic-era films catering to adults (such as Steven Spielberg’s “West Side Story” remake” and the Will Smith sports drama “King Richard “) struggled to sell tickets despite positive reviews. So it’s no small feat that nearly 50% of ticket buyers for “Downton Abbey: A New Era” a feel-good story set in a familiar franchise, were 55 and OLDER.REUTERS