‘Furious 7’ outpaces box office rivals for second week

LOS ANGELES, USA – Furious 7 easily outpaced the competition to claim the top North American box office spot for a second straight week, selling nearly $61 million in tickets, industry estimates showed Sunday, April 12. (READ: ‘Fast & Furious 7’ Review: Ridiculously fun)

The seventh in the stunt-filled Fast and Furious street-racing franchise that has raked in more than $2 billion worldwide since 2001, Furious 7 pulled in more than $252 million in its first two weekends, according to box-office tracker Exhibitor Relations.

The film features the late Paul Walker, who was killed in an unrelated car crash in November 2013 while the film was still in production. (READ: WATCH: Vin Diesel sings ‘See You Again’ for Paul Walker)

In second place was animated children’s film Home, about an unpopular space alien forced to flee his own kind. It earned $19 million in its third week of release.

The Longest Ride, an onscreen rendering of Nicholas Sparks’ romantic novel of the same name, debuted in third place, earning $13.5 million. The movie stars Scott Eastwood, the son of actor-director Clint Eastwood.

Fourth place went to buddy comedy Get Hard, about a prison-bound white investment banker (Will Ferrell) who hires a black car washer (Kevin Hart) for lessons on surviving the slammer. It earned $8.6 million.

Disney’s live action Cinderella was in fifth place, earning $7.2 million, with Downton Abbey star Lily James as the enchanted scullery maid-turned-princess and Cate Blanchett as her wicked stepmother. 

Dystopian action thriller Insurgent, the second big-screen installment based on Veronica Roth’s best-selling Divergent book series, came in sixth place with $6.85 million.

Woman in Gold, which tells the true story of an elderly Holocaust survivor trying to get her Nazi-looted artwork back from the Austrian government, held onto seventh place with a $5.85 million haul.

Indie horror flick It Follows, took eighth place, grossing $2.0 million at the box office.

Ninth place went to dramedy Danny Collins, starring Al Pacino as a washed up rock star and Annette Benning as the hotel manager charmed by him. It earned $1.6 million.

Rounding out the top 10, with $1.38 million in receipts, is While We’re Young, a wry comedy starring Ben Stiller and Naomi Watts about a couple in the early throes of mid-life crisis. – Rappler.com