‘Cars’ rolls to the top of the weekend box office

LOS ANGELES  – “Cars 2,” the sequel to the animated Disney film, did well enough despite tepid reviews to roar into first spot among weekend movies, industry data showed Monday.

The latest Pixar production, with voices provided by Owen Wilson, Michael Caine and others, earned $66.1 million in North America, according to box office tracker Exhibitor Relations.

Second place went to another new film, “Bad Teacher” about the classroom antics of a foul-mouthed, pot-smoking middle school teacher and starring A-list actress Cameron Diaz, which earned $31.6 million.

Third place went to superhero comic book adaptation “Green Lantern” with $18 million in sales.

Sci-fi thriller “Super 8” earned $12 million for fourth place, while Jim Carrey’s “Mr. Popper’s Penguins,” brought in $10.1 million for fifth.

In sixth place was “X-Men: First Class” with $6.7 million, while the summer’s biggest earner so far. In seventh place was “The Hangover: Part II,” earned an estimated $5.6 million, for a total $244 million to date.

“Bridesmaids,” on its seventh week in theaters, trailed up the aisle in eighth spot with $5.3 million in ticket sales, while “Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides,” earned $4.9 million for ninth place.

The 10th spot went to “Kung Fu Panda 2,” which made $4.2 million to add to its total of $153 million earned since its opening five weeks ago.