'Furious' leaves competition in the dust at N. America box office

THE Fate of the Furious ran at full throttle for a second weekend, raking in US$38.7 million to head North American box-office profits with a total of US$163.6, industry analysts estimated on Sunday.
Although the eighth installment in Universal Studio's Fast and Furious series – starring megastars Vin Diesel and Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson – shattered records during its opening last weekend with global revenues of more than a half-billion dollars, its North American take so far has come in below that of Furious 7, which earned US$250 million over its first two weekends.
The latest film, directed by F. Gary Gray of Straight Outta Compton fame, also features Charlize Theron, Tyrese Gibson and hip-hop star Ludacris.
In it, Diesel's Dom Toretto character is coerced to join forces with a cyberterrorist played by Theron, who turns him against his team.
In second place, the DreamWorks animation The Boss Baby took in US$12.8 million, Exhibitor Relations reported.
The tale of rivalry between babies and puppies has earned a four-week total of US$137 million. Alec Baldwin voices the tie-wearing chief baby in the production, distributed by Fox.
Third-place Beauty and the Beast continued to draw viewers to North American theatres this weekend, earning US$10 million in its sixth week.
The Disney blockbuster, starring Emma Watson and Dan Stevens, has taken in US$471 million domestically so far while pushing past US$1 billion internationally.
Fourth place went to Born in China, a Disney animal documentary, which debuted with US$5.1 million. The co-production between Disneynature and Shanghai Media Group offers a rare glimpse of pandas, snow leopards and other creatures of the country's vast animal kingdom.
Going in Style held fifth place. The Warner Bros. comedy, starring Morgan Freeman, Alan Arkin and Michael Caine as aging bank robbers, had weekend sales of US$5 million.
Rounding out the top 10 were:
Smurfs: The Lost Village (US$4.9 million)
Unforgettable (US$4.8 million)
Gifted (US$4.5 million)
The Promise (US$4 million)
The Lost City of Z (US$2 million) — AFP