Sandra Bullock and George Clooney’s sci-fi thriller Gravity remained at the top of the weekend box office for its third week in a row. The Oscar-contender earned $31 million over the weekend, bringing its North American total gross to $170.6 million. When the film was released on October 4th to $55.7 million, it became the highest opening of all time for the month of October. Worldwide, the film has been a success, earning an additional $114.2 million at the international box office.
Gravity is the third film of the year to achieve a box-office three-peat, joining Lee Daniels’ The Butler and Fast & Furious 6 as the only other two films to accomplish the feat.
Tom Hank’s thriller, Captain Phillips, based on the true story of the Somali pirate capture of the Maersk Alabama, remained in second place in its sophomore week with $17.3 million in box office receipts. The film has earned $62 million at the worldwide box office to date, surpassing its production budget of $55 million.
Horror flick Carrie fell short of analysts projections of $25 million with a debut of only $17 million. The $30 million horror flick is a remake of the 1976 horror classic and is based on the 1974 book by Stephen King.
The award for the worst debut of the year goes to Buena Vista’s The Fifth Estate starring Benedict Cumberbatch. Based on the story of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, The Fifth Estate earned a pathetic $1.7 million in its wide release in 1,769 theaters, averaging just $969 per theater.
In comparison, Movie 43, which was dubbed “the Citizen Kane of awful” by one critic, earned $4.8 million when it opened in theaters in January, almost triple that of The Fifth Estate.
It’s not all gloom and doom for Cumberbatch though. His historical drama on American slavery, 12 Years A Slave, has earned a terrific $960,000 at just 19 theaters, averaging $50,526 per theater.
Top 10 Films at this weekend’s box office:
- Gravity – $31 million
- Captain Phillips – $17.3 million
- Carrie – $17 million
- Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs 2 – $10.1 million
- Escape Plan – $9.8 million
- Prisoners – $2 million
- Enough Said – $1.8 million
- The Fifth Estate – $1.7 million
- Runner Runner – $1.6 million
- Insidious Chapter 2 – $1.5 million
