Latest ‘Die Hard’ film tops North America box office

This publicity film image released by 20th Century Fox shows Bruce Willis as John McClane, left, Jai Courtney as his son Jack, center, and Sebastian Koch as Komarov in a scene from “A Good Day to Die Hard.” AP PHOTO/20TH CENTURY FOX, FRANK MASI

LOS ANGELES—The latest in the long-running “Die Hard” action series, with Bruce Willis reprising his starring role, topped the weekend box office across North America, industry estimates showed on Sunday.

Twenty-five years after the first film about tough New York cop John McClane burst onto the big screen, the newest take—”A Good Day to Die Hard”—hauled in $25 million, according to box office tracker Exhibitor Relations.

The fifth installment of the “Die Hard” movie series has Willis’s McClain travel to Russia to help an adult son get out of trouble.

The comedy “Identity Thief” continued to defy tepid reviews and came in second place with $23.4 million in ticket sales, after debuting last week as the top film at the box office.

In third place was the debut of the animated “Escape from Planet Earth,” which sold $16 million in tickets, followed by “Warm Bodies,” a romantic zombie comedy inspired by Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet,” with $9 million.

The debut of “Beautiful Creatures” a supernatural fantasy flick featuring British Oscar-winner Emma Thompson, came in fifth with $7.46 million in ticket sales, while director Steven Soderbergh’s thriller “Side Effects,” starring Jude Law and Rooney Mara, came in sixth with $6.3 million.

Oscar-nominated romantic comedy “Silver Linings Playbook,” starring Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence, was seventh with $6 million in movies seats sold, followed by “Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunt,” a horror movie twist on the classic fairy tale, which grossed an estimated $3.47 million.

Rounding off the top ten was “Zero Dark Thirty,” which sold $3.1 million in tickets, and horror flick “Mama,” which earned $2.79 million.

Final weekend ticket sales figures are due out Monday.