Movie

The sci-fi thriller starring George Clooney and Sandra Bullock continues its winning streak, blocking Tom Hanks' ship-hijacking drama from the top spot.

• Oct 14, 2013

AceShowbiz - "Gravity" is unbeatable in its second weekend. After opening with a record-breaking $55 million last week, the Sandra Bullock and George Clooney starrer added another impressive $44.3 million in domestic ticket sales, strongly holding the number 1 spot for a second week in a row.

The Alfonso Cuaron-directed pic dropped only 21 percent in its second weekend domestically, marking the lowest slip in history for a non-holiday film that debuted to more than $55 million. "The Incredibles" was the previous record holder (29 percent down in its second weekend back in 2004).

"Gravity" pushed its domestic total to $123.4 million and almost raced past $200M mark worldwide. While it wasn't much of a monster, it still managed to perform nicely outside the pond. It added $28 million, pushing its foreign total to $68 million and thus raising its global cume to $191.4 million.

In the 3D showing, the movie continues to be a big draw by contributing to a whopping 84|percent| of the yield. From the screening in IMAX theaters, the science fiction thriller has collected $9 million (20|percent|) over the weekend, marking the largest second weekend gross in the IMAX history.

"It's word-of-mouth," Dan Fellman, Warner Bros. president of domestic distribution, said of the "Gravity" steady performance in theaters throughout the week. "We're filling theaters in small, medium and large towns throughout North America, and our audience has really spread from (ages) eight to 80."

With "Gravity" extended reign, "Captain Phillips" has to settle at the second place. The Paul Greengrass-directed movie about the true story of a U.S. cargo ship captain taken hostage by Somali pirates in 2009 made a decent start with an estimated $26 million from the domestic ticket sales.

It becomes the biggest hit for its lead actor Tom Hanks since 2009's "Angels & Demons" which debuted with $46.2M. Costing $55 million to produce, the film appealed to 52|percent| male and 48|percent| female. More than 60|percent| of the viewers were over the age of 35.

Depicting the infamous Maersk Alabama ship hijacking, it received a rare "A" CinemaScore, better than "Gravity" which got an "A-". But both generated Oscar buzzes with the former being raved for Hanks' portrayal as Captain Richard Phillips and the latter praised for its 3D depiction.

The last new release that made it to the top 10 is "Machete Kills". It entered at the fourth place. Despite its star-studded cast that include Mel Gibson, Amber Heard, Lady GaGa, Sofia Vergara and Jessica Alba, it finished the first weekend to a disappointing result of approximately $3.8 million marking director Robert Rodriguez's lowest wide opening.

"Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2" and "Runner, Runner" occupy the rest of the top 5. The animation sits at the third spot with additional $14.2 million in its third weekend, while the Ben Affleck and Justin Timberlake starrer added an estimated $3.7 million in its second weekend.

1. "Gravity" - $44.2 million
2. "Captain Phillips" - $26 million
3. "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2" - $14.2 milllion
4. "Machete Kills" - $3.8 million
5. "Runner, Runner" - $3.7 million
6. "Prisoners" - $3.6 million
7. "Insidious Chapter 2" - $2.7 million
8. "Rush" - $2.4 million
9. "Don Jon" - $2.3 million
10. "Baggage Claim" - $2.1 million