Box office top 20: ‘SpongeBob’ ends three-week reign of ‘American Sniper’
NEW YORK, N.Y. – The three-week box office reign of Clint Eastwood’s “American Sniper” was brought to an end by an unlikely sharp-shooter: SpongeBob SquarePants.
“The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water” debuted with $55.4 million in North American theatres over the weekend, a hefty haul for the Nickelodeon cartoon. In its fourth week of wide release, “American Sniper” remained a major draw, pulling in $23.3 million.
Two big-budget fantasies flopped. The $175-million space opera “Jupiter Ascending,” from Lana and Andy Wachowski, opened with $18.4 million after Warner Bros. delayed its 2014 summer release. “Seventh Son,” a medieval fantasy starring Jeff Bridges, managed just $7.2 million despite a nearly $100 million price tag.
The top 20 movies at U.S. and Canadian theatres Friday through Sunday, followed by distribution studio, gross, number of theatre locations, average receipts per location, total gross and number of weeks in release, as compiled Monday by Rentrak:
1. “The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out Of Water,” Paramount, $55,365,012, 3,641 locations, $15,206 average, $55,365,012, 1 week.
2. “American Sniper,” Warner Bros., $23,289,113, 3,885 locations, $5,995 average, $281,389,352, 7 weeks.
3. “Jupiter Ascending,” Warner Bros., $18,372,372, 3,181 locations, $5,776 average, $18,372,372, 1 week.
4. “Seventh Son,” Universal, $7,217,640, 2,875 locations, $2,510 average, $7,217,640, 1 week.
5. “Project Almanac,” Paramount, $5,232,672, 2,900 locations, $1,804 average, $15,661,312, 2 weeks.
6. “Paddington,” The Weinstein Company, $5,220,940, 2,888 locations, $1,808 average, $57,124,415, 4 weeks.
7. “The Wedding Ringer,” Sony, $4,719,532, 2,138 locations, $2,207 average, $54,997,220, 4 weeks.
8. “The Imitation Game,” The Weinstein Company, $4,687,391, 1,963 locations, $2,388 average, $74,546,178, 11 weeks.
9. “Black or White,” Relativity Media, $4,537,267, 1,823 locations, $2,489 average, $13,139,951, 2 weeks.
10. “The Boy Next Door,” Universal, $4,111,835, 2,193 locations, $1,875 average, $30,861,390, 3 weeks.
11. “Taken 3,” 20th Century Fox, $2,314,437, 1,507 locations, $1,536 average, $85,042,496, 5 weeks.
12. “Selma,” Paramount, $1,690,342, 941 locations, $1,796 average, $46,422,326, 7 weeks.
13. “The Loft,” Open Road, $1,447,948, 1,841 locations, $787 average, $5,201,632, 2 weeks.
14. “Birdman,” Fox Searchlight, $1,301,830, 666 locations, $1,955 average, $35,135,202, 17 weeks.
15. “The Theory of Everything,” Focus Features, $993,809, 602 locations, $1,651 average, $32,035,483, 14 weeks.
16. “A Most Violent Year,” A24 Films, $955,004, 706 locations, $1,353 average, $4,604,786, 6 weeks.
17. “Strange Magic,” Disney, $883,531, 1,322 locations, $668 average, $11,467,444, 3 weeks.
18. “Still Alice,” Sony Pictures Classics, $855,890, 135 locations, $6,340 average, $2,552,748, 4 weeks.
19. “Into the Woods,” Disney, $852,830, 750 locations, $1,137 average, $125,718,156, 7 weeks.
20. “Whiplash,” Sony Pictures Classics, $762,530, 479 locations, $1,592 average, $9,573,569, 18 weeks.
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Universal and Focus are owned by NBC Universal, a unit of Comcast Corp.; Sony, Columbia, Sony Screen Gems and Sony Pictures Classics are units of Sony Corp.; Paramount is owned by Viacom Inc.; Disney, Pixar and Marvel are owned by The Walt Disney Co.; Miramax is owned by Filmyard Holdings LLC; 20th Century Fox and Fox Searchlight are owned by 21st Century Fox; Warner Bros. and New Line are units of Time Warner Inc.; MGM is owned by a group of former creditors including Highland Capital, Anchorage Advisors and Carl Icahn; Lionsgate is owned by Lions Gate Entertainment Corp.; IFC is owned by AMC Networks Inc.; Rogue is owned by Relativity Media LLC.
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