‘Fast & Furious’ tops N. America box office again

This film publicity image released by Universal Pictures shows Jordana Brewster, left, and Paul Walker in a scene from “Fast & Furious 6.” AP

LOS ANGELES— “Fast & Furious 6” retained the top spot at the North America box office at the weekend, estimates showed Sunday, ahead of “Now You See Me,” a crime caper starring Morgan Freeman and Michael Caine.

The action franchise sequel featuring Vin Diesel and Michelle Rodriguez took $34.5 million at theaters, with Freeman and Caine’s latest outing earning $28 million on its debut, industry tracker Exhibitor Relations said.

In third place was science fiction epic “After Earth,” starring Will Smith, which grossed $27 million.

“Star Trek: Into Darkness,” another sequel, shared fourth spot with “Epic,” a computer animated fantasy-adventure. Both movies took $16.4 million at the weekend, according to the estimates.

Slipping down to sixth from second spot last week was “The Hangover Part III,” starring Bradley Cooper and Zach Galifianakis. The final film in the series, given a thumbs down by many critics, earned $15.9 million during its second weekend in theaters.

Robert Downey Jr’s return in “Iron Man 3,” meanwhile, took seventh place with $8 million, while “The Great Gatsby,” Baz Luhrmann’s adaptation of the literary classic, slipped two places, earning $6.3 million in eighth place.

Rounding out the top 10 were a new entry from Bollywood, “Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani,” a coming of age drama, which earned $1.6 million, and “Mud,” with Matthew McConaughey and Reese Witherspoon, which took $1.2 million in sales.