Box Office: 'Ride Along 2' Beats 'Star Wars: The Force Awakens' to Win Weekend
by Pamela McClintock
Universal’s Ride Along 2 topped the long Martin Luther King Jr. holiday with an estimated $39.5 million from 3,175 theaters, well behind the first film but easily enough to win the four-day weekend ahead of The Revenant and Star Wars: The Force Awakens.
The $40 million sequel — reuniting Kevin Hart and Ice Cube — opened exactly two years after Ride Along debuted to a surprise, record-breaking $48.6 million. However, Ride Along 2 faced far more competition and earned a B+ CinemaScore, compared to an A for the first.
Awards frontrunner The Revenant, starring Leonardo DiCaprio and directed by Alejandro G. Inarritu, placed No. 2 with an estimated four-day gross of $35 million from 3,559 locations for a domestic total of $93.2 million.
Related: ‘13 Hours’ Benghazi Movie Being Marketed to Conservative Moviegoers
The Revenant saw a boost at the box office after picking up 12 Oscar nominations Thursday and winning best picture, best director and best actor at last weekend’s Golden Globes ceremony for Fox and New Regency. The Revenant added screens this weekend, including 54 Imax theaters.
After ruling the box office for four consecutive weekends, The Force Awakens came in No. 3 with roughly $32 million from 3,823 theaters for the four days for a domestic total approaching $860 million and a global haul north of $1.8 billion. The movie has begun shedding theaters in North America; its tally since opening had been 4,134 sites before this weekend.
Coming in No. 4, Michael Bay’s patriotic themed 13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi opened to an estimated $19 million-$20 million from 2,389 theaters for the four days, almost on par with the $22 million launch of Lone Survivor on the same weekend in 2013. (A year ago, Clint Eastwood’s American Sniper launched to a massive $107.2 million.)
Related: Oscar Box-Office Bump: 'The Revenant’ Rides Ahead of 'Star Wars: Force Awakens’
13 Hours, targeting conservative moviegoers, is potentially politically divisive in recounting the 2012 terrorist attack on the U.S. Embassy compound in Benghazi that left four dead, including U.S. Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens. Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, who was then Secretary of State, has come under fierce attack from Republican rivals for security lapses at the compound. The Paramount movie does not refer to Clinton.
13 Hours, starring John Krasinski and James Badge Dale, over-indexed in conservative Southern states, which also boast a large number of military bases.
The weekend’s third new entry, Lionsgate’s family film Norm of the North, grossed an estimated $8.8 million from 2,411 locations for the four days. The film earned a B- CinemaScore.
Look back at ‘The Force Awakens’ record-breaking run with the video below:
