‘G.I. Joe’ commands box office lead with $41.2 million

Dwayne Johnson, a cast member in “G.I. Joe: Retaliation,” looks down the carpet at the Los Angeles premiere of the film at the TCL Chinese Theatre on Thursday, March 28, 2013 in Los Angeles. AP

LOS ANGELES – Long-delayed sequel “G.I. Joe: Retaliation” led the North American box office in its debut weekend, earning $41.2 million, industry estimates showed Sunday.

The action film about a fantasy elite military unit starring Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, Channing Tatum and Bruce Willis is based on toy action figures first introduced in the 1960s, and later turned into an animated TV series in the 1980s.

Paramount had postponed the sequel to 2009’s “G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra” from its original June release in order to add 3D effects.

Stone-age cartoon “The Croods,” DreamWorks Animation’s latest family crowd pleaser voiced by Nicolas Cage and Emma Stone, dropped to second spot.

The feel-good film, about a prehistoric family battling with fire and other new inventions, took $26.5 million on its second weekend in theaters, according to box office tracker Exhibitor Relations.

New release “Tyler Perry’s Temptation,” starring Jurnee Smollett-Bell, Lance Gross and Kim Kardashian, landed in the Number Three spot with $22.3 million.

With $14 million in box office receipts, the fourth spot went to action thriller “Olympus Has Fallen,” a tale of terrorism in the US capital and a kidnapped president starring Gerard Butler and Morgan Freeman.

In fifth was Walt Disney’s 3D fantasy adventure flick “Oz the Great and Powerful,” which earned $11.6 million in its fourth week in theaters.

“The Host,” a new action-adventure film adapted from the novel by “Twilight” author Stephenie Meyer, made its entry in theaters by taking sixth spot with $11 million.

Seventh place went to “The Call,” a thriller starring Halle Berry as a 911 operator trying to rescue a young girl who has been abducted. It earned $4.8 million in its second week, for fourth spot.

Tina Fey romantic comedy “Admission” dropped from fifth to eight spot, taking $3.3 million, followed by timely US vacation movie “Spring Breakers” with $2.8 million.

Rounding out the top 10 was “The Incredible Burt Wonderstone,” a comedy about rivalry among magicians starring Steve Carell, Steve Buscemi and Jim Carrey, earned $1.3 million during its third week in theaters.