Captain America commands North American box office

By: 10 years ago

This image released by Marvel shows Robert Redford, left, and Chris Evans in a scene from “Captain America: The Winter Soldier.” AP FILE PHOTO

LOS ANGELES – Superhero sequel “Captain America: The Winter Soldier” maintained the top rank at the North American box office this weekend, estimates showed Sunday.

The latest big-screen blockbuster featuring the iconic Marvel superhero took in $41.4 million, figures from box office tracker Exhibitor Relations said.

The performance held off another sequel, animated children’s movie “Rio 2,” a follow-up to the 2011 hit about a family of blue macaw parrots.

The movie, which features the voices of Jesse Eisenberg and Anne Hathaway in the lead roles, took in $39 million during its debut.

In third spot was another debutante, horror film “Oculus,” about an antique mirror possessed with evil spirits. It garnered $12 million.

Kevin Costner’s latest big-screen appearance — sports drama “Draft Day” — made fourth place.

The film, which sees Costner playing an American football team’s general manager on the day of the NFL draft, picked up $9.75 million.

In fifth spot was “Divergent,” the dystopian tale of a young woman in a futuristic society, based on the popular young adult novel by the same name. The movie reeled in $7.5 million.

Biblical epic “Noah,” starring Russell Crowe, sank to sixth place with $7.45 million.

The religiously themed “God’s Not Dead,” which tells the story of a college freshman who debates his atheist philosophy professor, dropped to seventh with $5.5 million.

Wes Anderson’s quirky comedy “The Grand Budapest Hotel,” which took $4 million, slipped two places to eighth.

Rounding out the top 10 were “Muppets Most Wanted” with $2.2 million and animated children’s film “Mr. Peabody and Sherman,” based on characters from the 1960s television cartoon “Rocky and Bullwinkle,” with $1.8 million.