‘Riddick’ rules weekend box office with $19M

From left to right, director David Twohy, actor Vin Diesel, actress Katee Sackhoff, and actor Jordi Molla arrive on the red carpet at the world premiere of the feature film “Riddick” at the Regency Village Theatre on Aug. 28, 2013, in Los Angeles. AP

“Riddick” is king of the box office.

The science-fiction thriller starring Vin Diesel as an intergalactic ex-con who can see in the dark debuted in first place with $19 million.

“Riddick,” which finds the alien anti-hero stranded and pursued by bounty hunters on a hostile planet, is in the third installment in the sci-fi series. The original “Pitch Black” earned $11.6 million in its first weekend in 2000, while the follow-up “The Chronicles of Riddick” captured $24.3 million at launch in 2004.

The biography drama “Lee Daniels’ The Butler” fell to second place in its fourth weekend with $8.4 million.

The Spanish-language comedy “Instructions Not Included” earned third place in its expanded second weekend with $8.1 million.

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The top 20 movies at US and Canadian theaters Friday through Monday, followed by distribution studio, gross, number of theater locations, average receipts per location, total gross and number of weeks in release, as compiled Monday by Hollywood.com, are:

1. “Riddick,” Universal, $19,030,375; 3,107 locations, $6,125 average; $19,030,375, one week.

2. “Lee Daniels’ The Butler,” Weinstein Co., $8,401,729; 3,330 locations; $2,523 average; $91,403,106, four weeks.

3. “Instructions Not Included,” Lionsgate, $8,149,289; 717 locations; $11,366 average; $20,360,893, two weeks.

4. “We’re the Millers,” Warner Bros., $7,695,027; 3,445 locations; $2,234 average; $123,613,931, five weeks.

5. “Planes,” Disney, $4,120,811; 3,033 locations; $1,359 average; $79,124,995, five weeks.

6. “One Direction: This Is Us,” Sony, $4,046,455; 2,735 locations; $1,480 average; $23,936,965, two weeks.

7. “Elysium,” Sony, $3,141,332; 2,241 locations; $1,402 average; $85,118,599, five weeks.

8. “Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters,” Fox, $2,425,539; 2,045 locations; $1,186 average; $59,773,305, five weeks.

9. “Blue Jasmine,” Sony, $2,347,694; 1,069 locations; $2,196 average; $25,108,580, seven weeks.

10. “The World’s End,” Focus, $2,314,494; 1,520 locations; $1,523 average; $21,784,111, three weeks.

11. “Mortal Instruments: City of Bones,” Sony, $2,207,000; 2,519 locations; $876 average; $27,851,204, three weeks.

12. “Getaway,” Warner Bros., $2,191,484; 2,135 locations; $1,026 average; $8,680,163, two weeks.

13. “This Is the End,” Sony, $1,901,825; 2,161 locations; $880 average; $98,847,912, 13 weeks.

14. “You’re Next,” Lionsgate, $1,584,541; 1,902 locations; $833 average; $16,907,032, three weeks.

15. “Despicable Me 2,” Universal, $1,459,505; 1,050 locations; $1,390 average; $357,558,315, 10 weeks.

16. “2 Guns,” Universal, $1,409,635; 1,165 locations; $1,210 average; $72,077,420, six weeks.

17. “The Grandmaster,” Weinstein Co., $1,030,576; 804 locations; $1,282 average; $4,959,006, three weeks.

18. “Closed Circuit,” Focus, $938,153; 870 locations; $1,078 average; $5,023,667, two weeks.

19. “The Smurfs 2,” Sony, $902,227; 949 locations; $951 average; $68,177,426, six weeks.

20. “The Wolverine,” Fox, $748,594; 698 locations; $1,072 average; $129,411,133, seven weeks.

 Originally posted at 7:47 a.m.