‘No Good Deed’ tops N. American box office

This Jan. 4, 2014 file photo shows actor Idris Elba at the Palm Springs International Film Festival Awards Gala in Palm Springs, Calif. The Sony thriller “No Good Deed,” which stars Elba as an escaped convict and Taraji P. Henson as the innocent he terrorizes, opened on top of the box office with $24.5 million, according to studio estimates Sunday, Sept. 14, 2014. Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP

LOS ANGELES – Thriller “No Good Deed” leap straight in at the top of the North American box office this weekend, pulling in $24.5 million on its debut, industry estimates showed Sunday.

The movie tells the story of a devoted wife and mother of two who innocently helps out a charming but dangerous escaped convict – with devastating consequences.

Second at the weekend, with $16.6 million, was another new release – the more sedate “Dolphin Tale 2,” a family-friendly sequel starring Morgan Freeman and Ashley Judd.

The two new entrants relegated science-fiction blockbuster “Guardians of the Galaxy” into third spot, according to box office tracker Exhibitor Relations.

The Marvel comics adaptation added another $8 million at the weekend to its seven-week haul for a total $305.9 million.

Fourth was “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles,” which added $4.8 million from Friday to Sunday to its total earnings for $181 million. Next up was comedy “Let’s Be Cops” with $4.3 million.

In sixth place was a new entry, drama “The Drop,” which tells the story of a man who unwittingly finds himself at the center of a robbery gone wrong. It pulled in $4.2 million on its first weekend in theaters.

Seventh was teen melodrama “If I Stay” with $4.1 million.

Eighth was “The November Man” with $2.75 million. The thriller stars former James Bond actor Pierce Brosnan as an ex-CIA agent lured out of retirement for one last dangerous mission.

In ninth spot was “The Giver,” based on Lois Lowry’s 1993 novel, starring Jeff Bridges, Meryl Streep and Brenton Thwaites, which took $2.6 million.

And rounding out the top 10, with $2.5 million, was “The Hundred-Foot Journey,” a romantic comedy with Helen Mirren and Om Puri as culture-clashing restaurateurs.