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'Furious 7' races past 'Age of Adaline' in US box office
'Furious 7' races past 'Age of Adaline' in US box office
Actor Vin Diesel pictured at the premiere of Furious 7 at the TCL Chinese Theatre in Hollywood earlier this month.
Reuters/Los Angeles
Nothing, it seems, and certainly not Blake Lively, can get Furious 7 to slam on the brakes.
The mega-grossing sequel took the top spot at the weekend box office with $18.2mn, becoming the first film to come in first for four consecutive weekends since The Hunger Games in March of 2012.
Furious 7 is one of only 29 films to pull off the feat. Its winning streak will almost certainly draw to a close next weekend when Avengers: Age of Ultron enjoys what most analysts project will be an opening of more than $200mn. Domestically, Furious 7 has earned $320.5mn.
Although it could not elbow Furious 7 from its perch atop the box office chart, Lively's fantasy romance Age of Adaline scored a respectable $13.4mn from 2,991 locations.
The Lionsgate/Lakeshore release had been projected to pull in $12mn and cost $30mn to produce. Reviews for Age of Adaline were mixed, but the picture still managed to secure a third-place finish primarily by appealing to females, who comprised 75% of the opening weekend crowd. 58% of ticket buyers were over 25.
The film co-stars Ellen Burstyn and Harrison Ford in the story of a woman who suffers an accident that keeps her perpetually 29 years old.
Despite pot shots from Seth MacFarlane, Sony's Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2 held up better than many analysts projected, finishing second in its sophomore weekend with around $15.3mn. The critically derided comedy has earned $40mn through Sunday, topping its $30mn production budget.
Animated hit Home scored fourth place, while Unfriended rounded out the top five with a $6.2mn finish, driving its stateside total to $25.2mn
Ex Machina solidified its place among the year's biggest specialty hits, expanding from 39 to 1,255 screens and earning $5.4mn in the process. The A24 release has made $6.9mn in three weeks.
Among new releases, Russell Crowe's directorial debut The Water Diviner bowed to $1.2mn from 320 theatres.