Cop comedy "Ride Along 2" toppled "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" from its weeks-long spot atop the North American box office with a strong debut over a long holiday weekend, industry data showed Tuesday. "Ride Along 2" raked in $41 million over the four-day Martin Luther King Day weekend, box office tracker Exhibitor Relations said. The film features funny man Kevin Hart as a rookie law officer who aspires to become a detective like his future brother-in-law, played by rapper and actor Ice Cube, as the two become embroiled with a murderous drug ring.
Major Oscar contender "The Revenant," a violent frontier revenge thriller starring Leonardo DiCaprio, came in second place at $37.5 million. It likely earned a boost from the 12 Oscar nominations it received last week. "The Force Awakens," the latest installment in the popular "Star Wars" saga, finished in third place at $33 million in its fifth week of release, boosting it to a worldwide total take of $1.865 billion.
Debuting in fourth place was "13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi,"
about the 2012 attack on the US diplomatic compound in the eastern Libyan city that left four Americans dead. It earned $19.2 million. Comedy "Daddy's Home" starring Mark Wahlberg and Will Ferrell finished in fifth place with $11.9 million. Rounding out the week's top 10 films were:
1- "Norm of the North" ($9.4 million)
2- "The Forest" (just under $7.0 million)
3- "The Big Short" ($6.4 million)
4- "Sisters" ($5.5 million)
5- "The Hateful Eight" ($4.3 million)--AFP