Ryan Coogler's rule-defying 'Sinners' boasts the smallest second-weekend drop for any film opening north of $40 million since 2009's 'Avatar' and the smallest ever for an R-rated film or horror pic at that level.

Sinners” towered over the box office again, scoring a mighty $45 million in its second weekend of release. Ticket sales declined a mere 6% from its $48 million start, making “Sinners” the rare film with a sophomore outing that nearly matched its debut.

W hen a movie has its second weekend at the box office, the baseline expectation is that ticket sales will drop about 50 percent. If it has particularly strong hype going for it,