Kevin Hart and Ice Cube have ended the monthlong box-office reign of "Star Wars: The Force Awakens."
Their "Ride Along 2" topped the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday weekend in North America with an estimated $41.5 million over four days, according to studio estimates Monday. The Universal release took in $35.3 million Friday through Sunday.
The comedy sequel, which cost $40 million to make, came in below the original, which made $48.6 million over the same holiday weekend two years ago. But the box office-topping performance of "Ride Along 2" nevertheless lent a timely reminder to Hollywood of the power of diversity at the multiplex, days after the Academy Awards came under criticism for a slate of all-white acting nominees.
In second was Alejandro Inarritu's 1820s frontier saga "The Revenant," which earned $39 million over four days, capitalizing on its leading 12 Oscar nominations Thursday. In two weeks of release, the Leonardo DiCaprio-starring film has made nearly $100 million, making it an unexpectedly big success for distributor 20th Century Fox and producer New Regency. The budget for "The Revenant" swelled to $135 million amid production delays.
Michael Bays' "13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi" opened with $19.7 million in four days and $16 million in three days. The "Transformers" director's avowedly nonpolitical film about an extremely political subject performed strongest in the South, where Paramount Pictures said it did 41 percent of its business.
"The Force Awakens" slid to third place with an estimated $32.6 million through Monday. That puts the record domestic total of "The Force Awakens" at $858.5 million, nearly $100 million beyond the previous top domestic total of James Cameron's "Avatar." (Adjusting for inflation, however, neither bests "Gone With the Wind," nor the original 1977 "Star Wars," which remained in and out of the No. 1 spot for more than 40 weeks.)
Overseas, the Disney behemoth crossed $1 billion, buoyed by a second week of release in China. There, the seventh installment of the franchise is doing well ($95.2 million in two weeks), but is not on a recording-setting pace. Globally, "The Force Awakens" sits at $1.86 billion, third all-time behind "Titanic" and "Avatar."
A post-nominations Oscar bump, once a dependable boost for Academy Awards favorites, materialized substantially only for "The Revenant."
The best-picture nominated Irish immigrant tale "Brooklyn" went up 51 percent with $2 million from 687 theaters. The Fox Searchlight release has grossed $25 million. A24's "Room," easily the smallest of the best picture nominees, made $893,357 over the three-day weekend in 293 locations – but that was a 500 percent increase for the mother-son drama, which has grossed $6.2 million.
Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Monday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Rentrak. Where available, the latest international numbers for Friday through Sunday are also included. Final domestic figures will be released Tuesday.
1. "Ride Along 2," $41.5 million.
2. "The Revenant," $39 million.
3. "Star Wars: The Force Awakens," $32.6 million.
4. "13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi," $19.7 million
5. "Daddy's Home," $12 million.
6. "Norm of the North," $9.3 million.
7. "The Forest," $7 million.
8. "The Big Short," $6.5 million.
9. "Sisters," $5.5 million.
10. "The Hateful Eight," $4.4 million.
Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at international theaters (excluding the U.S. and Canada), according to Rentrak:
1. "Star Wars: The Force Awakens," $47.3 million.
2. "The Revenant," $31.5 million.
3. "Boonie Bears III," $16 million.
4. "Creed," $14.2 million.
5. "Royal Treasure," $11.5 million.
6. "The Last Witch Hunter," $9.3 million.
7. "The 5th Wave," $8.2 million.
8. "Daddy's Home," $7.8 million.
9. "The Peanuts Movie," $7.5 million.
10. "The Big Short," $7 million.
