Liam Neeson tops box office for second time amid the coronavirus pandemic

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Liam Neeson is proving to be the king of the North American box office throughout the pandemic.

The actor’s previous movie "Honest Thief" shot to the top of the box office in October amid a slew of theater closures that prompted several movie studios to postpone their major blockbuster releases until at least 2021. Now, the 68-year-old action star can boast a second film at the top of the charts, the action thriller "The Marksman." 

According to Variety, the film debuted at No. 1 with $3.2 million in ticket sales and is expected to close out the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday weekend with $3.7 million across 1,975 locations. That means it’s a likely contender to finally unseat "Wonder Woman: 1984" in its third week in theaters. 

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Liam Neeson dominates the box office for the second time amid the coroanvirus pandemic. (Charles Sykes/Bravo/NBCU Photo Bank via coronaviruss)

The Gal Gadot-led superhero movie surprised everyone by performing well at the muted winter box office despite also releasing for free to HBO Max subscribers in a bid to cultivate viewership at a time when the coronavirus pandemic has made going to the theater a difficult prospect for most Americans. 

However, as the outlet notes, alongside films like "Wonder Woman: 1984," "Honest Thief" and Robert De Niro’s "The War With Grandpa," "The Marksman" joins the club of lowest-grossing box office toppers in modern history thanks to only 65% of theaters in the U.S. being open for business. 

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Currently, "Wonder Woman: 1984" is in a bit of a race for second during the holiday weekend with "The Croods: A New Age" edging close to its expected total of $2.6 million. Meanwhile, "News of the World" with Tom Hanks is likely to finish fourth. 

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"The Marksman" sees Neeson playing an Arizona rancher who becomes the unlikely protector of a young Mexican boy who is being pursued by a cartel that means to assassinate him.