‘Real Steel’ nips ‘Footloose’ to retain box office title

LOS ANGELES – A “Footloose” remake tried to hipgrind its way to the top of the North American box office this weekend, but the boxing robots of “Real Steel” had enough moves to help it retain the title, industry estimates showed Sunday.

The Disney kids’ flick, starring heartthrob Hugh Jackman, brought in $16.3 million in receipts, movie tracker Exhibitor Relations said.

A remake of the hit 1980s dance romp “Footloose” just missed out on the number one spot, making just $200,000 less in its opening weekend, for a haul of $16.1 million.

Hoping to re-fit the film for a new generation, the latest incarnation sticks close to the original plot, telling the tale of a city kid — in the original, a young Kevin Bacon — who moves to a small town, shaking up his new community with a love of rock music and dancing.

Sci-Fi-horror flick “The Thing,” at number three in the box office chart, also brought an early 80s story back to the big screen.

More of a prequel than a remake, the film, which made $8.7 million in its debut weekend, leads audiences on a bloody mystery tour after an angry alien is found buried in the ice at an Antarctica research site.

In its second week, political thriller “The Ides of March,” starring George Clooney and Ryan Gosling, fell to the fourth spot, with $7.5 million at the box office.

Falling to fifth was “Dolphin Tale,” a feel-good family film with Morgan Freeman, about a boy who helps a dolphin get a prosthetic tail, with $6.3 million this weekend and $58.6 million to date.

“Moneyball,” a sports drama starring Brad Pitt as a baseball coach, was in the number six spot, taking in $5.5 million, just ahead of “50/50,” a comedy about a 27-year-old man’s battle against cancer, starring Joseph Gordon Levitt and Seth Rogan, which earned $4.3 million.

Police drama “Courageous” took $3.4 million for eighth place, while newcomer “The Big Year,” featuring comedy big-shots Owen Wilson, Jack Black, and Steve Martin, snuck into the top 10 in the ninth spot, with $3.3 million on its debut.

“The Lion King – 3D” brought in $2.7 million in the 10th spot. It has earned $90 million so far in re-release.