Horror is in the spotlight with the film “The Ball of Hell,” which topped the North American box office this weekend despite low revenue, according to estimates on Sunday, 28 August from specialist firm Exhibitor Relations.

The Ball of Hell grossed under $7 million from Friday 26 August to Sunday 28 August, the worst first place finish in fifteen months, with Variety calling it a “catastrophically slow weekend.”

Fortunately for Sony, the film cost just under $10 million to produce.

Nathalie Emmanuel and Thomas Doherty star in the Dracula-inspired film, which according to expert David Gross “has little critical appeal.”

The action film Bullet Train came second with 5.6 million over the weekend. Brad Pitt plays one of the hitmen who try to kill each other on a high-speed train between Tokyo and Kyoto.

With 4.9 million over the weekend, Beast, from Universal Studios, is in third place, just ahead of Top Gun: Maverick, which still has 4.7 million USD in receipts after 14 weeks. The Top Gun sequel, again starring Tom Cruise, has earned a total of USD 691 million in North America and USD 720 million in the rest of the world.

The animated film Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero, the 21st feature film in the Japanese saga, has slipped from first to fifth place with only USD 4.6 million in revenue.