Animated adventure Home topped the US box office this weekend with an impressive $54m on debut, while much-discussed Will Ferrell comedy Get Hard defied controversies over racism and homophobic jokes with a strong $34.6m bow in second place.
Home, the latest film from struggling studio Dreamworks Animation, benefited from singer Rihanna’s voice turn as a teenage girl who befriends a member of a cute race of alien invaders. The film performed around $20m ahead of expectations despite middling reviews, providing solace for a company which has been forced to cut jobs after several of its previous movies underperformed. The $54m estimated total is the studio’s best since 2012, when Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted took $60.3m.
Get Hard is the tale of a millionaire hedge fund manager (Ferrell) who enlists the help of his African American car washer (Kevin Hart) to toughen up in an effort to avoid being raped in jail following convictions for fraud and embezzlement. The film drew criticism after debuting at the SXSW festival in Texas earlier this month due to racial stereotyping and scenes in which Ferrell attempts to prepare for life behind bars by visiting a gay bar.
Much-hyped horror It Follows arrived in the top 10 in fifth place with $4m from only 1,218 screens, way short of what would be considered standard for a major wide release, the film adding to its previous $700,000 from earlier limited screenings. The low budget $2m chiller, from director David Robert Mitchell, centres on a young woman pursued by a mysterious supernatural threat after a sexual liaison.
The top five was rounded out by previous No 1s: The Divergent Series: Insurgent, with $22m in its second week of release for a north American total of $86.3m, and Disney’s Cinderella, with $17.5m in its third week for total haul of $150m. Kenneth Branagh’s live action fantasy fairytale also passed the $300m mark globally this weekend.
There were no other new movies in this week’s top 10, but Noah Baumbach’s While We’re Young, starring Ben Stiller, Naomi Watts, Adam Driver and Amanda Seyfried, did well on limited release. The comedy drama, about a New York-based documentary maker and his wife who begin hanging out with a younger couple, delivered $242,152 from just four cinemas in Los Angeles and New York for a per screen average of $60,000 – miles above Baumbach’s previous outings. Distributor A24 Films plans a nationwide expansion on 10 April.
US box office chart 27-29 March
1. Home: $54m - NEW
2. Get Hard: $34.6m - NEW
3. The Divergent Series: Insurgent: $22m, $86.3m
4. Cinderella: $17.5m, $150m
5. It Follows: $4m, $4.7m
6. Kingsman: The Secret Service: $3m, $119.4m
7. Run All Night: $2.2m, $23.8m
8. The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel: $2.18m, $28.1m
9. Do You Believe?: $2.15m, $7m
10. The Gunman: $2m, $8.8m
