"Ride Along" takes the top spot for the third week in a row, while two new flicks do worse than expected.
“Ride Along,” starring Kevin Hart and Ice Cube, tops the weekend box office charts with $12.3 million in ticket sales, according to Reuters.
This is the third straight weekend the comedy has the number one spot at the box office since its Jan. 17 release. The movie chronicles Hart’s character as he joins his future brother-in-law, a cop played by Ice Cube, on patrol. The film has earned $93 million since it’s premiere.
“That Awkward Moment,” which premiered this weekend, ranked third with $9 million in ticket sales. The Zac Efron film follows three single men who pledge to stay that way.
Disney’s “Frozen” earned more, ranking second at the box office with $9.3 million in sales. The film has earned $360 million since opening in late November. The addition of recent “sing-along” shows had a positive impact on ticket sales.
Figures are based on U.S. and Canadian movie ticket sales, Friday through Sunday.
Super Bowl weekend traditionally means fewer ticket sales. Sales were down more than $30 million, with last weekend’s ticket sales hitting $118 million, and this weekend coming in at $85 million.
Premiering “That Awkward Moment” during Super Bowl weekend was no mistake. Marketing for the movie targeted primarily women, who were considered to be less likely to watch the football game. But the movie’s take fell short of the projected $12 million ticket sales.
Focus Features, the company that produced “That Awkward Moment,” noted the film’s anti-Super Bowl potential. The company stated that the film was “designed as counter programming with a target audience of female movie-goers.”
The company also noted that the movie “scored best with our primary audience of younger females.”
“That Awkward Moment” has been receiving generally lukewarm to negative reviews. A Jan. 31 review in the Los Angeles Times declared that “the movie leans too heavily on cliches while its raunchy gags fall flat.”
Another new release this weekend, “Labor Day,” was promoted to women as well. The film stars Kate Winslet as a solemn single mother and Josh Brolin as an escaped convict who finds refuge in her home. It’s based on a novel by Joyce Maynord of the same name.
“Labor Day” also fell short of expectations, earning $5.3 million rather than the projected $8 million.
While “Ride Along” took the top spot, and “Frozen” and “That Awkward Moment” took the second and third spots, respectively, “The Nut Job” ranked fourth and “Lone Survivor,” Mark Wahlberg’s war flick, ranked fifth.
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