Last week, the North American film market found itself in a tricky situation: while a few new films had major releases, none could truly be classified as blockbusters. Typically, this Monday marks Veterans Day in the U.S., and combined with the weekend, it creates a three-day mini-holiday that would generally be a popular release window in November. However, this year, perhaps due to the ongoing U.S. presidential election, Hollywood studios chose not to release any new films over the past weekend. As a result, the film "Venom: Let There Be Carnage," which has been in theaters for three weeks, continues to hold the top spot at the box office.

Poster for "The Best Christmas Pageant Ever"

The top-performing new release is "The Best Christmas Pageant Ever," produced by Lionsgate. The film opened in 3,020 theaters, earning $11.1 million in its first weekend.

This film is adapted from the bestselling novel of the same name published in 1972. Directed and written by Dallas Jenkins, who previously created the biblical series "The Chosen," it has found a strong audience within religious communities in the U.S. The new movie "The Best Christmas Pageant Ever" tells a heartwarming story about a group of local teens who discover the true meaning of life during a Christmas parade, making it suitable for family viewing. Therefore, such an opening performance is quite reasonable.

Still from "Heretic"

Close behind in box office performance is the limited-release horror film "Heretic" from A24. This film, written and directed by Scott Beck and Bryan Woods, the duo behind "A Quiet Place," stars British actor Hugh Grant. It tells the terrifying story of two young Mormon women who set out to spread their faith but accidentally stumble into the home of a sinister single man. The film boasts a 93% fresh rating on the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes and has been highly recommended by the media, ultimately earning $11.01 million from 3,221 theaters on opening weekend.

Due to differences in the final box office reporting metrics, it may be a while before it’s clear which of the two films will secure the second position on this weekend's box office chart, likely not until Monday afternoon U.S. time.

Furthermore, "Anora," which won the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival this year, has finally expanded its release from 253 theaters to 1,104, earning $2.44 million over the weekend and ranking seventh at the box office. If all goes as expected, it will be one of the hottest films this awards season.