‘The Expendables 2’ Tops North American Box Office For Second Week

The Expendables 2 has once again topped the North American box office, according to Box Office Mojo. The sequel to Sylvester Stallone’s action-packed franchise took in $13.5 million in ticket sales over the weekend, which is down 53 percent from its debut two weeks ago. Since its release, the flick has amassed $52.3 million in the United States. Although the movie’s 10-day total is a little lower than its predecessor, the film is still on-track to earn Lionsgate some money.

The Bourne Legacy, meanwhile, snagged the second place position with $9.3 million. The fourth installment of the franchise — the first without star Matt Damon — has presently acquired $85.5 million in domestic theaters.

Although The Expendables 2 continues to explode across North America cineplexes, this week’s releases could easily be described as flat-out bombs. None of the weekend’s new movies made an impression at the box office despite the presence of some talented, well-respected actors.

Writer-director David Koepp’s Premium Rush, a bike messenger thriller starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt, only managed to bring home $6.3 million over three days. Given that the picture’s budget was estimated at $35 million, this certainly isn’t good news for Sony Pictures. The Kristen Bell and Dax Shepard comedy Hit & Run didn’t fare much better; despite opening in 2,870 theaters, the flick only scrounged up an estimated $4.6 million.

The only other notable release, the Warner Bros. supernatural chiller The Apparition, opened in 810 theaters and generated $2.9 million in ticket sales.

The independent documentary 2016: Obama’s America, meanwhile, continues to compete with Hollywood’s late-summer offerings. The film, which Entertainment Weekly reports is the highest-grossing conservative documentary ever made, grossed an impressive $6.2 million.

Given that next weekend’s releases don’t look much better — Lionsgate’s horror endeavor The Possession is the only real competition — there’s a very strong possibility that Sylvester Stallone and The Expendables 2 could take the top spot for a third week straight.

1. The Expendables 2 – $13,500,000
2. The Bourne Legacy – $9,300,000
3. ParaNorman – $8,546,000
4. The Campaign – $7,440,000
5. The Dark Knight Rises – $7,150,000
6. The Odd Life of Timothy Green – $7,125,000
7. Premium Rush – $6,300,000
8. 2016 Obama’s America – $6,238,000
9. Hope Springs – $6,000,000
10. Hit and Run – $4,675,000