The Kevin Hart-Ice Cube comedy “Ride Along” is blowing the doors off the box-office record for the Martin Luther King Day weekend, and heading for a four-day total of nearly $48 million.
The buddy cop tale was on track to top the mark of $46.1 million set by “Cloverfield” in 2008, and give Universal Pictures its second consecutive weekend win. The$41 million three-day total for “Ride Along” is the best ever in January and marks Ice Cube and Kevin Hart’s highest openings as well.
And for the second week in a row, the leader spectacularly exceeded pre-release projections.
The Afghan War drama “Lone Survivor” exploded for a stunning $38 million win last weekend, and the Mark Wahlberg action film was still running hot. It is on pace to finish with $27.5 million for the long weekend and is in a tight race with Open Road Films’ animated kids movie “The Nut Job,” another over-performer, which should finish in the same range.
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Moviegoers turned out in force Saturday, with almost every film in the top ten seeing significant jumps. The overall box office — with four wide openers and several expanding or re-released Best Picture Oscar nominees — could hit $220 million.
Paramount’s Chris Pine spy thriller “Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit” was looking at fourth place and $19.5 million for its first four days, while the weekend’s other wide opener, Fox’s low-budget horror film “Devil’s Due,” was on pace for seventh place with around $10 million.
Sony’s “American Hustle” was the strongest of the Oscar hopefuls this weekend. Director David O. Russell’s quirky con man tale is on pace to take in $12.4 million over the four days, good for sixth place behind Disney’s animated juggernaut “Frozen,” which was heading for $18 million over the long weekend, its eighth in release.
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The timing turned out to be ideal for the PG-13-rated “Ride Along,” which Universal picked up in turnaround from New Line last year ais the year’s first broad comedy. It’s directed by Tim Story, who directed and produced last year’s comedy “Think Like a Man,” which also starred Hart. That $12 million comedy made $96 million and has spawned a sequel that lands this summer for Sony.
The critics weren’t keen on “Ride Along,” but audiences – which were 50 percent African-American, 54 percent over 25 and a surprisingly high 57 percent female – gave it an “A” CinemaScore.
More to come …
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