NEW YORK — After a decade of development and several postponements, the long-awaited Stephen King adaptation “The Dark Tower” debuted with an estimated $19.5 million in North American ticket sales, narrowly edging out the two-week leader “Dunkirk.”

The so-so result for “The Dark Tower,” starring Idris Elba and Matthew McConaughey, wasn’t spectacular, but ambitions had already been scaled down for the movie, made for about $65 million by Sony Pictures and Media Rights Capital.

Christopher Nolan’s World War II epic “Dunkirk” slid to second with $17.6 million in its third week. It’s now made $133.6 million domestically.

Another long delayed film made its debut. The Halle Berry thriller “Kidnap” opened with $10.2 million.

In its first week of wide release, the Kathryn Bigelow-directed docudrama “Detroit” disappointed with $7.8 million.

Jake Coyle, The Associated Press

Filed under: box office, Detroit, DUNKIRK, Kidnap, The Dark Tower