Alfonso Cuaron's 3D space epic ‘Gravity,’ starring Sandra Bullock and George Clooney, holds onto the top spot at the North American box office with a record $44.3 million; Sony's ‘Captain Phillips’ opens to a solid $26 million.
Alfonso Cuaron’s 3D space epic Gravity, starring Sandra Bullock and George Clooney, sped past the $100 million mark at the domestic box office to end the weekend with total earnings of $123.4 million. Overseas, Gravity pulled in $28 million, pushing its foreign total to $68 million for a worldwide total of $191.4 million. The Warner Bros. film continues to be a big draw in 3D, with IMAX theaters taking in a record $9 million over the weekend, the largest second weekend gross in IMAX history.
Paul Greengrass' Somali pirate feature, Captain Phillips, came in second place with a $26 million debut. The critically acclaimed film, based on real events, cost $55 million to produce.
Sony’s animated feature, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2, came in third place over its third weekend out, bringing in $14.2 million for a North American total of $60.6 million. Overseas, Cloudy 2 took in an additional $8.1 million for an international total of $11.2 million.
Coming in fourth place, exploitation action film Machete Kills, from writer-director Robert Rodriguez, has a $3.8 million debut -- the worst wide opening of the filmmaker's career. With a cast led by Danny Trejo, Mel Gibson and Michelle Rodriguez, Machete Kills is the third film based on the fake trailers accompanying Grindhouse.
New Regency's gambling thriller Runner Runner and Warner Bros.' Prisoners tied for fifth place with $3.7 million each.
Runner Runner, starring Justin Timberlake opposite Ben Affleck, continued to struggle in its second weekend, taking in $3.7 million for a tepid domestic total of $14.1 million. Overseas, the film grossed $5.3 million an international total of $31.3 million and world total of $45.4 million. Prisoners has grossed $53.6 million for Alcon Entertainment and Warner Bros. in North America.
Box office numbers were obtained on boxofficemojo.com.
Formerly Editor-in-Chief of Animation World Network, Jennifer Wolfe has worked in the Media & Entertainment industry as a writer and PR professional since 2003.
