After four weeks topping the box office charts, Disney’s Star Wars: The Force Awakens has ceded first place to Universal’s Ride Along 2. The comedy sequel picked up $34 million across 3,175 venues and $39.5 million over the four-day Martin Luther King holiday weekend.
Universal spent $40 million re-teaming Ice Cube and Kevin Hart for Ride Along 2, which finds the bickering police officers working to bring a Miami drug ring to justice.
The audience skewed slightly more female, with women making up 52% of the opening weekend audience. African-Americans and Hispanics were the biggest demographic sector, each representing 34% of the crowd.
The rest of Ride Along 2 viewers were 22% Caucasian, 5% Asian, and 5% were “other.”
The Ride Along follow-up premiered on the same weekend as the first film, but did fall short of its debut. The first picture brought in $41.5 million for the three days and $48.6 million over the longer holiday period when it kicked off in 2014.
. “We think it will be a movie that’s going to be around for awhile.”
Lionsgate’s “Norm Of The North” pulled in $6.7 million from 2,411 locations. The animated film about a polar bear who is displaced from his Arctic home and makes his way to New York City, should do $8.8 million worth of business over the four-day span.
“The Revenant” wasn’t the only Oscar nominee to enjoy a bump. Fox Searchlight’s “Brooklyn” saw its receipts climb 51% to $2 million from 687 theaters, bringing its total to $25 million. Fellow Best Picture nominee “Room” saw its revenue spike up over 500%, topping out at $893,357 for the weekend from 293 locations. The A24 release has earned $6.2 million.
