Weekend moviegoers chose sci-fi over slapstick.
"Ender's Game" scored the No. 1 slot at the weekend box office, earning $28 million in its opening weekend and sending "Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa" into second place, according to studio estimates Sunday.
Lionsgate's adaptation earned an additional $2 million in five international territories.
Based on the novel by Orson Scott Card, "Ender's Game" stars Asa Butterfield and Harrison Ford as intergalactic soldiers.
Comments made by Card expressing opposition to gay marriage led some to call for a boycott of the film. But a strong first-place opening met the studio's pre-weekend expectations.
However, ticket sales didn't come close to the opening weekends of other young-adult adaptations such as "Twilight" and "The Hunger Games." It did fare better than "Beautiful Creatures" and "The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones."
"'Ender's Game' is a big budget movie that could be the start of a franchise," said box-office analyst Paul Dergarabedian of Rentrak. "This time of year is not exactly a hotbed of million-dollar openings, but once they launch worldwide, it will do well."
A representative for Lionsgate declined to be interviewed for this story.
Paramount's candid-camera comedy starring Johnny Knoxville disguised as an old man brought in an additional $20.5 million in its second weekend, with a domestic total reaching more than $62 million. It also picked up $6 million in international ticket sales.
Other films opening this weekend didn't generate as much enthusiasm.
CBS Films' "Last Vegas," featuring an all-star cast of silver screen veterans including Michael Douglas, Robert De Niro, Morgan Freeman and Kevin Kline, opened in third place, with $16.5 million.
"It's interesting to see the number of stars that are not in their 20s in the top films," Dergarabedian said. "'Ender's Game' has Harrison Ford and Viola Davis, and 'Last Vegas' is like a 'Hangover' for the older crowd. Sandra Bullock and George Clooney (in 'Gravity') appeal to an older audience, and '12 Years a Slave,' which continues to impress as it expands into more and more theaters, is a very sophisticated drama."
Relativity Media's 3-D animated kiddie flick "Free Birds," with characters voiced by Owen Wilson, Woody Harrelson and Amy Poehler, debuted in the fourth spot, with $16.2 million.
After its fifth weekend at the box office, the Warner Bros. 3-D stunner "Gravity" is still holding in the fifth position. It banked $13.1 million over the weekend, bringing its domestic total to $220 million. Internationally, it gained $27.1 million.
Considered an Oscar contender, "12 Years a Slave" earned $4.6 million at No. 7 in its third weekend.
Overseas, Disney's "Thor: The Dark World" earned an impressive $109.4 million in its first international weekend. The Marvel superhero sequel opens domestically next weekend.
With the opening of "Thor: The Dark World," Disney's cumulative international box office for 2013 has passed the studio's previous international record of $2.303 billion, which was set in 2010.
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Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Rentrak. Where available, latest international numbers for Friday through Sunday are also included. Final domestic figures will be released Monday.
1. "Ender's Game," $28 million ($2 million international).
2. "Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa," $20.5 million ($6 million international).
3. "Last Vegas," $16.5 million.
4. "Free Birds," $16.2 million.
5. "Gravity," $13.1 million ($27.1 million international).
6. "Captain Phillips," $8.5 million ($10 million international).
7. "12 Years a Slave," $4.6 million.
8. "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2," $4.2 million ($11.5 million international).
9. "Carrie," $3.4 million ($1.6 million international).
10. "The Counselor," $2.3 million ($2.6 million international).
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Estimated weekend ticket sales Friday through Sunday at international theaters (excluding the U.S. and Canada) for films distributed overseas by Hollywood studios, according to Rentrak:
1."Thor: The Dark World," $109.4 million.
2."Gravity," $27.1 million.
3."Sole a Catinelle," $18.5 million.
4."Turbo," $12.3 million.
5."Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2," $11.5 million.
6."Stalingrad," $11 million.
7."Captain Phillips," $10 million.
8."Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa," $6 million.
9."Escape Plan," $4.4 million.
10."Ender's Game," $2 million.
Apple and Google Face UK Investigation Into Mobile Browser Dominance
Apple and Google aren't giving consumers a genuine choice of mobile web browsers, a British watchdog said Friday in a report that recommends they face an investigation under new U.K. digital rules taking effect next year.
The Competition and Markets Authority took aim at Apple, saying the iPhone maker's tactics hold back innovation by stopping rivals from giving users new features like faster webpage loading. Apple does this by restricting progressive web apps, which don't need to be downloaded from an app store and aren't subject to app store commissions, the report said.
"This technology is not able to fully take off on iOS devices," the watchdog said in a provisional report on its investigation into mobile browsers that it opened after an initial study concluded that Apple and Google effectively have a chokehold on "mobile ecosystems."
The CMA's report also found that Apple and Google manipulate the choices given to mobile phone users to make their own browsers "the clearest or easiest option."
And it said that the a revenue-sharing deal between the two U.S. Big Tech companies "significantly reduces their financial incentives" to compete in mobile browsers on Apple's iOS operating system for iPhones.
Both companies said they will "engage constructively" with the CMA.
Apple said it disagreed with the findings and said it was concerned that the recommendations would undermine user privacy and security.
Google said the openness of its Android mobile operating system "has helped to expand choice, reduce prices and democratize access to smartphones and apps" and that it's "committed to open platforms that empower consumers."
It's the latest move by regulators on both sides of the Atlantic to crack down on the... Read More