Shyamalan's 'Split' again rules N. America box office

SPLIT, the M Night Shyamalan thriller about a man with multiple personalities who locks three teenage girls in an underground bunker, held onto the top spot in the North American box office for a third weekend, industry estimates showed Sunday.
The movie – by the director of the classic horror film Sixth Sense – stars James McAvoy as a man with 23 personalities who preys on young girls. It earned an estimated US$14.6 million (RM64.6 million) in ticket sales over a three-day weekend in which sales were slowed by football's Super Bowl, Exhibitor Relations reported.
The cumulative North American total for the film, made on a low US$9 million budget, is now US$98.7 million. With mostly positive reviews, Forbes magazine has called it "the first outright sensation of 2017".
In second spot was the Paramount feature Rings, which scored US$13 million in its first weekend. The film, the latest in a horror franchise that began in 2002 with the money-making Ring, tells the story of a videotape that kills those who watch it.
Third spot went to A Dog's Purpose, Universal's family-friendly flick about a canine who continually comes back to life as different dogs searching for meaning. It took in US$10.8 million in its second week.
Some animal lovers had called for a boycott of the film after video footage showed an apparently terrified German shepherd being forced into rushing water on the set.
In fourth place was Hidden Figures, Fox's true-life story of three black women mathematicians who helped NASA put the first men in space. The comedy-drama, starring Taraji P. Henson, Octavia Spencer and Janelle Monae, took in US$10.1 million in its seventh week, for a healthy cumulative total of US$119.4 million.
La La Land, Lionsgate's nostalgic tribute to the Golden Age of Hollywood musicals, held on to fifth place in its ninth week, with revenue of US$7.5 million. Behind the acting, dancing and singing of Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling, the film has garnered a boatload of accolades and is a strong favourite at the Oscars. — AFP Relaxnews
Rounding out the Top 10 are:
Resident Evil: The Final Chapter" (US$4.5 million)
Sing (US$4 million)
Lion (US$4 million)
The Space Between Us (US$3.8 million)
xXx: The Return of Xander Cage (US$3.5 million)