According to early data from Exhibitor Relations released on Sunday, the Sony movie, which portrays the real-life warriors of the 19th-century kingdom of Dahomey which is now known as Benin has made $19 million at the box office.

In the movie, Nanisca, a seasoned warrior who teaches the following batch of recruits to battle a larger rival African country and European slave traffickers, is portrayed by Oscar-winning actress Viola Davis.

The Women King currently reigns supreme beating out competition from the low-budget horror film “Barbarian,” which took first place at the box office last week and came in second this week with $6.3 million from Friday to Sunday, but was mostly overshadowed by the feature picture.

A pleasant piece of cinema news following the controversial reaction to Disney’s latest depiction of The Little Mermaid which features Halle Bailey as Ariel.