PNP/WENN.com
Kevin Hart can do no wrong at the box office.
“Ride Along,” the buddy cop comedy he stars in with Ice Cube, was number one at the box office this weekend. The film earned $41.2 million in ticket sales, out-grossing another new release, political thriller “Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit,” reports Reuters. The Tom Clancy CIA flick pulled in $17.2 million over the first three days of the Martin Luther King holiday weekend, making it No. 4. “Jack Ryan” played in about 3,400 theaters, while “Ride Along” was only in around 2,700, according to the site Box Office Mojo,
Afghanistan war story “Lone Survivor ” landed in second with ticket sales of $23.2 million, according tracking firm Rentrak. It was number one last week.
“Ride Along,” which was produced by Ice Cube, did better than industry predictions of $28 million. In fact, it had the biggest three-day MLK holiday weekend opening ever.
Despite the box office win, the reviews haven’t been kind to the film. Only 10 of 47 reviews were favorable, according to the site Rotten Tomatoes. People don’t seem to care. Ninety-four percent of the audience polled on the movie review site wanted to see it.
“The timing was really right on this one,” said Nikki Rocco, president for domestic distribution at Universal Pictures which released the film. The budget for the movie was about $25 million.
Another surprising stat for the movie: It was really popular with women, turning it into a date movie.
And more good news. Audiences who have seen the movie graded it an A, according to CinemaScore, meaning it will continue to have box office power.
No one can deny Hart is on a movie roll. His stand-up comedy documentary “Let Me Explain” killed “The Lone Ranger” in per-theater earnings this past summer. Hart’s comedy “opened in theaters during the fourth of July weekend and pulled in an impressive $10 million. That’s a lot considering that it only debuted in 876 theaters, compared to The Lone Ranger‘s 3,904 locations,” reports Forbes.
In its first two weeks, the movie earned a total of $27 million, turning it into the fourth top-grossing stand-up film of all time. (Eddie Murphy’s Raw, which grossed $50.5 million, is still No. 1.)
It’s obvious Hart has come a long way since “Soul Plane.” Did you see “Ride Along”?
(EW.com) — It’s good to be Kevin Hart and Ice Cube this weekend. The increasingly ubiquitous Hart, who recently told EW that Ride Along is “my baby,” scored big with a $41.2 million opening weekend for the buddy-cop comedy. That should jump to an estimated $47.8 million when one factors in the Monday MLK Jr. holiday. Not only does the impressive haul surpass expectations for Universal’s leanly budgeted $25 million comedy, but it also breaks the record for a January opening. (If you’re still not sold on the Hart/Cube pairing, whose chemistry lifted the film to an “A” approval rating with CinemaScore audiences, let this stupendous spot on Conan give you a taste of their chemistry.)
Universal folks have further reason to thrust their chests out this weekend. Buoyed by rapturous word of mouth, the studio’s real-SEAL heart-thumper Lone Survivor dropped just 38 percent to deliver an impressive $23.2 million in its fourth weekend. Director Peter Berg, whose Battleship bombed so badly, made Lone Survivor for $40 million and now can boast about a $74 million domestic total.
Sliding into the No. 3 spot is Open Road Films’ animated The Nut Job. With families looking for holiday entertainment, The Nut Job should swap places with Lone Survivor by the end of Monday. The squirrel comedy, which earned a solid “B” rating from CinemaScore audiences, managed to outperform its modest expectations.
Alas, the same can’t be said for Paramount’s stab at rebooting its Jack Ryan franchise, with Star Trek actor Chris Pine playing the action-hero CIA agent who’s previously been played by the likes of Alec Baldwin and Harrison Ford. Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit, which the studio made for $60 million, debuts at a rather limp No. 4 with just $17.2 million. A “B” CinemaScore rating shouldn’t do much to attract moviegoers distracted by all the Oscar-nominated films they want to see before the big show. That said, Shadow Recruit fared better overseas, with $22.2 million from only half of the international markets.
Frozen hung on in the No. 5 spot, with Disney’s domestic kitty now totaling nearly $333 million. But hot on its heels was American Hustle, which earned 10 Oscar nominations and last night walked away with a SAG award for best ensemble cast. David O. Russell’s caper, starring Christian Bale, Amy Adams, Bradley Cooper, and Jennifer Lawrence, enjoyed a 28 percent jump with a $10.6 million haul in its sixth weekend; its total gross rose to $116.4 million. The Meryl Streep/Julia Roberts family drama August: Osage County likewise enjoyed a jump in box office to $7.6 million as it more than doubled its theater count to 2,051; its cume stands at nearly $18.2 million.
The only other other notable new release is Devil’s Due, Eli Roth’s found-footage horror movie that was hoping to benefit from its mega-viral “Devil Baby” campaign. The film failed to crack the top 5 and earned a dismal “D+” CinemaScore rating. That’s a bleak showing, and yet the $7 million film already recouped its investment with an $8.5 million debut.
The top five:
1. Ride Along — $41.2 million
2. Lone Survivor — $23.2 million
3. The Nut Job — $20.55 million
4. Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit — $17.2 million
5. Frozen— $12 million
The post Ride Along hits Big at Box Office. Pulls $41 Million Over Weekend appeared first on Late Night Creep.