Sci-fi adventure Ender’s Game has zoomed to the top of the US box office chart in its debut weekend, reports BBC online.
Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa, about an 86-year-old and his eight-year-old grandson, was shunted into second after hitting the number one spot last week.
Ender’s Game, a story about children forced to fight an enemy race, took $28m (£17.5m) according to estimates.The film stars Harrison Ford as a commander who manipulates a young boy (Asa Butterfield) into leading a war.
Double Oscar nominee Viola Davis plays Ford’s second in command.
Based on the best-selling 1985 novel of the same name, Ender’s Game was in line with box office forecasts which predicted it would take between $25m (£15.6m) and $30m (£18.8m) in its opening weekend.
This was despite calls by some to boycott the film after the book’s author, Orson Scott Card, made some comments expressing his opposition to gay marriage.
But with the highly anticipated movie Thor opening next week, box office analyst Jeff Bock said: ‘It looks like Ender’s Game is one-and-done… (next weekend) there won’t be much of the box office pie left for Ender’s Game.’
Last Vegas, featuring an all-star cast including Robert De Niro, Michael Douglas, Morgan Freeman and Kevin Kline, opened in third place with $16.5m (£10.3m).
Rentrak’s Paul Dergarabedian said: ‘It’s interesting to see the number of stars that are not in their 20s in the top films. Ender’s Game has Harrison Ford and Viola Davis, and Last Vegas is like a Hangover for the older crowd.
-With New Age input