Denzel Washington's first-ever sequel was a super trouper at the July 20 weekend box office.

In a battle between two sequels -- "Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again" and "The Equalizer 2" -- ABBA was expected to strike gold. The musical comedy had the better Friday estimates and tracking numbers. But you should never bet against Denzel! His R-rated vigilante justice didn't win by much -- it was a relatively quiet weekend -- but you know what they say: The winner takes it all.

"The Equalizer 2" earned $35,825,000 to take the top spot on the box office chart. "Mamma Mia! 2" earned $34,380,000 to just barely miss No. 1. But, hey, Happy 10th anniversary anyway!

Denzel Washington's "Equalizer" sequel earned an A Cinemascore vs. the A- for the PG-13 sunshine bright comedy. Maybe if there's a third "Mamma Mia!" they can bring in Denzel for some dancing fun.

The 2008 "Mamma Mia!" movie had a $27 million opening weekend, eventually earning $145 million at the domestic box office and a total of $610 million worldwide. All on a budget of $52 million.

The first "Equalizer" opened in 2014 with $35 million, eventually picking up $101 million on the domestic front for a total of $192M worldwide. Its budget was $55 million, fairly similar to the first "Mamma Mia!" Both budgets jumped for the sequels -- about $10 million for Denzel's film and $20 million for the even larger "Mamma Mia!" ensemble.

Third place at the July 20-22 box office went to "Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation," which was No. 1 last week. This time it earned just over $23 million.

The other big new movie this week, "Unfriended: Dark Web," had to settle for No. 9 with just over $3 million.

Here's the top 10:

1. "The Equalizer 2" - $35,825,000
2. "Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again" - $34,380,000
3. "Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation" - $23,150,000
4. "Ant-Man and the Wasp" - $16,126,000
5. "Incredibles 2" - $11,520,000
6. "Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom" - $11,005,000
7. "Skyscraper" - $10,960,000
8. "The First Purge" - $4,980,000
9. "Unfriended: Dark Web" - $3,495,000
10. "Sorry to Bother You" - $2,823,000

"Sicario 2," "Ocean's 8," and "Uncle Drew" followed behind.

People complain about all these sequels and reboots, but that also seems to be what they're most willing to pay to see. "Skyscraper" may have felt like a reboot of "The Towering Inferno" and "Die Hard," but technically it and "Sorry to Bother You" are the only non-sequels on the list above.

What's next?

"Mission: Impossible - Fallout" -- another sequel! -- should dominate the box office next Friday, July 27.

[Via: Deadline, Box Office Mojo, Variety]

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