James McAvoy’s "Split" retains box office leadership

PanARMENIAN.Net - "Split" keeps sitting at No. 1 on this week's North American box office. M. Night Shyamalan's latest thriller gained an estimated $26.3 million over the weekend. Although the income is still behind Shyamalan's previous movies "Unbreakable" and "The Sixth Sense", "Split" has already crossed $100 million worldwide in only two weeks, AceShowbiz said.

The movie follows the story of a man with two dozen personalities (portrayed by James McAvoy) who, with mysterious intention, kidnaps three girls. Moviegoers have often dropped hints about "Split" twist ending, which seemingly triggered others to check out the movie in the theaters.

"A Dog's Purpose" unexpectedly sits on the second place despite the leaked controversial video which featured alleged animal abuse on the filming set. The dog-themed movie gained approximately $18.4 million over the weekend.

As for the controversial video, the filmmakers, production companies and producer Gavin Polone have denied the allegations, saying that the video was highly edited. "A Dog's Purpose" turns out to be appealing to pet lovers of all ages and earns an A CinemaScore. The movie seemingly owes its commercial success to strong word of mouth.

Meanwhile, "Resident Evil: The Final Chapter" sits on the fourth place on North American weekend box office. It only gained an estimated $13.9 million domestically against its $40 million budget. However, Sony distribution chief Rory Bruer said that the final installment of the "Resident Evil" movie series is doing well overseas, earning about $35 million in Japan alone.

High-acclaimed musical "La La Land" places fifth, earning an estimated $12 million. Like "Hidden Figures" which sits on the third place, the musical has crossed $100 million for its total domestic gross.

"XXX: Return of Xander Cage" drops to the sixth place with approximately $8.2 million. "Sing", "Rogue One: A Star Wars Story" and "Monster Trucks" gained around $6.2 million, $5.1 million and $4.1 million respectively. "Gold (2016)" starring "Matthew McConaughey", meanwhile, bombed, opening at No. 10 with approximately $3.5 million.