‘Death on the Nile’ tops a quiet box office weekend

By JAKE COYLE
AP Film Writer

NEW YORK (AP) — Hollywood’s Super Bowl weekend largely fizzled with the muted debut of Kenneth Branagh’s long-delayed Agatha Christie whodunit, “Death on the Nile,” a tepid reception for the Jennifer Lopez romantic-comedy “Marry Me” and modest box-office bumps for Oscar nominees. Sunday studio estimates say “Death on the Nile” led all films with $12.8 million in ticket sales. Produced under the former 20th Century Fox, “Death on the Nile” had been delayed by the pandemic and scandal that engulfed one of its stars, Armie Hammer. “Marry Me” launched with $8 million. Hollywood’s biggest pitch to moviegoers instead wasn’t in theaters but in television ads to roll out during the Super Bowl.