Jim Parsons, Rihanna’s "Home" debuts atop box office

PanARMENIAN.Net - "Home" easily found place in the hearts of moviegoers in its debut weekend. The DreamWorks Animation movie featuring the voice of Jim Parsons, Rihanna, Jennifer Lopez and Steve Martin tops North American box office with an estimated $54 million, AceShowbiz reports.

"The voice cast was so strong, that's certainly part of it," says Paul Dergerabedian, box office analyst for Rentrak. "But families have been left out in the cold this year so far at the movies. People are chomping at the bit for animated family content. 'Home' certainly benefited from that."

Chris Aronson, domestic distribution chief at Fox which holds the rights to the animated movie, adds, "You've got to give credit to the movie itself. It's an original story with heart and action and humor, all the elements that people want to be entertained."

The movie's success is sure a relief for DWA which announced last February that it took a $57.1 million writedown on "Penguins of Madagascar" and "Mr. Peabody & Sherman". The "Madagascar" spin-off debuted to only $25.4 million in November 2014, while the latter opened to $32.2 million in March last year.

Another new entry this week, "Get Hard", also opened strong with an estimated $34.6 million at No. 2. Earning a B CinemaScore, the R-rated comedy relies on the chemistry between Kevin Hart and Will Ferrell which "was a big draw everywhere, from large cities to small towns, and certainly in urban markets," says Warners domestic distribution chief Dan Fellman.

The two newcomers force last week's champion "The Divergent Series: Insurgent" to step down to No. 3 with additional $22.1 million for a domestic total of $86.4 million so far. "Cinderella" slips to No. 4 with an estimated $17.5 million.

At No. 5, "It Follows" enjoys a huge bump in its ticket sales after expanding from 32 theaters to 1,218 locations. The well-reviewed horror movie raked in an estimated $4 million, up 1,065.9% from last week.

"Home (2015)" - $54 million "Get Hard" - $34.6 million "The Divergent Series: Insurgent" - $22.1 million "Cinderella" - $17.5 million "It Follows" - $4.0 million "Kingsman: The Secret Service" - $3.05 million "Run All Night" - $2.2 million "The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel" - $2.18 million "Do You Believe?" - $2.15 million "The Gunman" - $2.0 million