Aside from one newcomer and a little bit of slot-shuffling, there was very little change at the top of the US box office this weekend as Kevin Hart and Ice Cube’s cop comedy Ride Alon****g continued to dominate the charts, earning $12.3 million.
The film is now on course to make more than $100 million from Stateside audiences, which is a great result from a $25 million budget and continues the good start that Universal is having in 2014. Expect sequel announcements (or at least another Cube/Hart pairing) to be in the works already.
While new rom-com That Awkward Moment initially took second place on Friday, the film – which had hoped to capture a larger male audience than usual – fell victim to** Frozen**’s resurgence as Disney put out a Sing-A-Long version of the icy sensation and audiences flocked back to belt out Let It Go and boost the ’toon (which also just won the Best Animated Film award and several others at this weekend’s Annies) into second with $9.3 million. **That Awkward Moment **was pushed to third with $9 million.
The Nut Job was also gazumped by its animated rival, slumping to fourth place but still pulling in $7.6 million, while Lone Survivor fell to fifth with $7.1 million.
Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit, meanwhile, showed some sticking power in the middle of the charts after three weeks on release. It still isn’t the success that Paramount were hoping for, but in sixth it’s only down one slot this weekend, taking in $5.4 million. In related Paramount disappointment news, Jason Reitman’s latest, Labor Day, saw its mixed reviews and seeming lack of awards buzz damage its earning power, ending up with $5.3 million for a seventh-place launch.
American Hustle was down one place in eighth with $4.3 million, while The Wolf Of Wall Street crossed the $100 million mark, the fourth Martin Scorsese/Leonardo DiCaprio collaboration to do so, all while slipping to ninth. Finally, I, Frankenstein didn’t so much slip as plummet from its already poor sixth-place opening to 10, signalling a fast, embarrassing exit from the top 10 and little chance of a follow-up.
For the frosty full figures, head to Box Office Mojo.