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LOS ANGELES – The debut of “The Lego Movie,” filled with dozens of star voices, easily beat off George Clooney’s latest film, according to weekend estimates for the North American Box Office.
The big-screen opening for the movie featuring characters formed from the colorful educational building blocks soared to the top of the chart, taking a massive $69.1 million between Friday and Sunday, industry tracker Exhibitor Relations said.
The film features the voices of actors such as Morgan Freeman, Liam Neeson and Will Ferrell as well as the retired basketball legend Shaquille O’Neal.
It earned more than triple the $22.7 million taken at theaters for “The Monuments Men,” directed by and starring Clooney, about a World War II platoon tasked with recovering art masterpieces looted by the Nazis.
In third place was last week’s top-earner, “Ride Along,” a police action comedy starring Kevin Hart and Ice Cube, which took $9.4 million in ticket sales over the weekend.
Disney smash “Frozen,” loosely-based on a Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale, was in fourth sport, down from second last week, earning $6.9 million according to the initial figures.
“That Awkward Moment,” a romantic comedy starring Zac Efron about three friends who pledge to remain single only to fall in love, was in fifth spot, down from third, with $5.5 million in ticket sales.
That was only slightly more than Afghanistan war epic “Lone Survivor, which took $5.3 million in sixth place, and “Vampire Academy,” a new entry from the Weinstein Co. which had sales of $4.1 million, in seventh spot.
Rounding out the top 10, were “The Nut Job,” ($3.8 million), “Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit,” ($3.6 million), and “Labor Day,” ($3.2 million), according to Exhibitor Relations. Final Box Office returns will be released Monday.