‘Angry Birds’ tops North American box office

LOS ANGELES, United States — “The Angry Birds Movie” hopped to the top of the North American box office over the weekend, booting “Captain America” to second place, according to preliminary industry estimates Sunday.

The 3D animated take on the popular video game features a trio of flightless birds — Red, Chuck and Bomb — who take out their anger on an invasion of purple pigs.

The Sony production pulled in an estimated $39 million its first weekend in North American theaters, topping last week’s box office leader, “Captain America: Civil War,” according to industry tracker Exhibitor Relations.

That action-packed blockbuster and its cast of Marvel superheroes raked in another $33.1 million over the weekend for a cumulative total of $347.4 million after just three weeks in theaters.

Third place went to new-on-the-block “Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising,” a comedy starring Seth Rogan, Rose Byrne and Zac Efron that scored $21.8 million its first weekend out.

A sequel to 2014 hit “Neighbors,” it flips that movie’s premise by having unruly sorority sisters — instead of frat brothers — turn the lives of their happily married neighbors upside down.

“The Nice Guys,” a detective mystery starring Ryan Gosling and Russell Crowe, came in fourth on its debut weekend with a box office take of $11.3 million.

Gosling and Crowe play a private eye and a hired enforcer on the hunt for a missing woman.

“The Jungle Book,” a remake of the Disney animated classic, slipped to fifth place its fifth week in theaters, taking in $11 million for a cumulative total of $327.5 million.

Rounding out the top 10 were:

— “Money Monster” ($7 million)

— “The Darkness” ($2.4 million)

— “Zootopia” ($1.7 million)

— “The Huntsman: Winter’s War” ($1.2 million)

— “Mother’s Day” ($1.1 million)

source: entertainment.inquirer.net

‘Bad Grandpa’ tops N. American box office

LOS ANGELES – Wacky Jackass comedy “Bad Grandpa” elbowed space flick “Gravity” out of the top spot at the North American box office, preliminary weekend data showed Sunday.

The Johnny Knoxville road movie about an 86-year-old granddad and his eight-year-old grandson, netted $32 million and the top spot on its first days in theaters.

“Gravity” – with Oscar winners Sandra Bullock and George Clooney as astronauts adrift in space after a devastating accident – scored $20.3 million, taking its gross takings to $199.8 million since its premiere.

The third place finisher, “Captain Phillips,” based on a true story and starring Tom Hanks as a cargo ship captain captured by Somali pirates, earned $11.8 million.

Another star-studded premiere “The Counselor” with Michael Fassbender, Penelope Cruz, Cameron Diaz, Javier Bardem and Brad Pitt, brought in $8 million.

In fifth place this weekend was “Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs 2″ which earned $6.1 million and $100.6 million total since its release.

And the reprise of “Carrie,” the latest film adaptation of the Stephen King supernatural horror tale about an outcast high school girl out for revenge, earned $5.9 million, falling to sixth from last week’s third place.


Action flick “Escape Plan,” starring Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger as inmates trying to break out of the world’s most secret and secure prison trailed with $4.3 million in seventh-place.

Steve McQueen’s “12 years a Slave” earned $2.2 million between Friday and Sunday, trailed by romantic comedy “Enough Said,” featuring the late Sopranos star James Gandolfini, which took $1.6 million in ninth place.

The thriller “Prisoners,” starring Hugh Jackman and Jake Gyllenhaal, rounded out the top 10, earning $1.1 million.

source: entertainment.inquirer.net

‘Gravity’ soars to top of N. America box office

LOS ANGELES – Space disaster odyssey “Gravity” soared to the top of the North American box office in its debut weekend with $55.6 million in ticket sales, industry estimates showed Sunday.

The film, directed by Oscar-nominated Alfonso Cuaron and starring Sandra Bullock and George Clooney – both Oscar winners— as astronauts adrift in space after a devastating accident, has already been winning rave reviews and Oscars buzz.

It blew away the second place finisher, animated sequel “Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs 2,” which took in $21.5 million in its second week in theaters, according to industry tracker Exhibitor Relations.

Another new release opened in the third slot: crime drama “Runner Runner,” starring Justin Timberlake as a Princeton grad student who travels to Costa Rica to confront a tycoon, played by Ben Affleck, he believes has taken him for a ride on an online poker site.

The film earned an estimated $7.6 million.

Crime thriller “Prisoners” fell to fourth place. The film, starring Hugh Jackman as a desperate parent in search of his child and Jake Gyllenhaal as the detective in charge of the investigation, pulled in $5.7 million.

In fifth place was Formula One motorsport drama “Rush,” Ron Howard’s acclaimed account of the famous duel for the 1976 world championship between James Hunt and Niki Lauda, earning $4.4 million.

Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s raunchy comedy-drama “Don Jon,” written and directed by “The Dark Knight Rises” actor, took sixth with $4.2 million in receipts.

The film sees Gordon-Levitt play a porn addict who seeks to change his ways in order to win the woman of his dreams played by Scarlett Johansson.

Not far behind, in seventh place, was “Baggage Claim,” a romantic comedy about a lovelorn flight attendant who traverses America looking for Mr Right. The film took in $4.1 million.

Horror sequel “Insidious: Chapter 2″ slid to eighth place with $3.9 million. The film, starring Rose Byrne and Patrick Wilson as a haunted husband and wife, is a follow-up to the successful 2010 horror flick “Insidious.”

In ninth spot was romantic comedy “Pulling Strings,” which stars Laura Ramsay as a US consular official in Mexico who finds herself mixed up with a mariachi singer, played by Jaime Camil, whose visa she rejected the day before.

The film directed by Pedro Pablo Ibarra debuted in the US and Canada with $2.5 million in ticket sales.

And, rounding out the top 10, another romantic comedy, “Enough Said,” starring James Gandolfini in one of his last roles before his death this year, earned an estimated $2.2 million.

source: entertainment.inquirer.net