‘Oblivion’ obliterates box office rivals

Tom Cruise arrives at the LA premiere of “Oblivion” at the TCL Chinese Theater on Wednesday, April 10, 2013 in Los Angeles. (Photo by Todd Williamson /Invision/AP)

LOS ANGELES – “Oblivion,” a post-apocalyptic action flick starring Tom Cruise, obliterated the competition in its debut this weekend, taking in about $38.2 million, industry estimates showed Sunday.

The film earned more than a third of this weekend’s box office revenue— about 37.41 percent of ticket sales, according to box office tracker Exhibitor Relations – as it jettisoned last week’s winner “42” from the top spot.

“42,” a biopic about trailblazing black baseball star Jackie Robinson, which stars Harrison Ford as the Brooklyn Dodgers executive who signed him, this week came in second place, with $18 million in ticket sales.

Stone-age cartoon “The Croods,” from DreamWorks Animation, was third with $9.5 million, followed by “Scary Movie 5,” the latest installment in the slasher-comedy franchise, which earned $6.3 million.

Action sequel “G.I. Joe: Retaliation,” was fifth, with $5.8 million.

In sixth place was “The Place Beyond the Pines,” starring Oscar nominees Ryan Gosling and Bradley Cooper, which earned $4.7 million.

Action thriller “Olympus Has Fallen,” in which terrorists capture the White House and hold the president hostage, was in seventh place with $4.5 million.

“Evil Dead” – a reinvention of Sam Raimi’s cult 1981 film about a group of friends hunted by demons in the woods – came in eighth with $4.1 million.

The 3D re-release of Steven Spielberg’s 1993 dinosaur classic “Jurassic Park” took in $1.7 million for ninth place.

Rounding out the top 10 was Walt Disney’s 3D fantasy adventure flick “Oz the Great and Powerful,” which this weekend earned $3 million for a seven-week total of $224 million.