The latest installment of the “Ice Age” series took the top spot at the box office over the weekend, freezing out “The Amazing Spider-Man.”
“Ice Age: Continental Drift,” the fourth installment of the animated franchise from News Corp.’s Twentieth Century Fox, took in $46 million in its first weekend in theaters, according to the studio’s preliminary estimates.
The movie, with characters voiced by Ray Romano, Denis Leary and John Leguizamo, had a better opening weekend than the third “Ice Age” film, but failed to achieve the opening-weekend grosses of the second, which took in $68 million when it hit theaters in 2006.
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“The Amazing Spider-Man,” from Sony Corp.’s Columbia Pictures, took in $35 million in its second weekend in theaters, bringing its cumulative domestic total grosses to $200.9 million.
For the most part, however, the box office signaled a midsummer sluggishness in anticipation of what is expected to be one of the year’s biggest hits, the final installment of director Christopher Nolan’s Batman series, “The Dark Knight Rises,” which opens July 20. “Ice Age: Continental Drift” was the only major opening, and most films did steady if unremarkable business.
“The Amazing Spider-Man” was trailed by “Ted,” about the relationship between a man and his foul-mouthed teddy bear, which took in $22.1 million in its third weekend in theaters. The cumulative domestic grosses for “Ted,” from Comcast Corp.’s Universal Pictures, now stand at $159 million.
“Brave” from Walt Disney Co.’s Pixar Animation Studios, took the fourth spot with $10.7 million, bringing its cumulative domestic totals to $195.6 million after four weeks in theaters. And “Magic Mike,” about a group of male strippers, rounded out the top five, with $9 million at the box office. From Time Warner Inc.’s Warner Bros. Pictures, “Magic Mike” has earned $91.9 million after three weeks in theaters.
- Ice Age: Continental Drift
- The Amazing Spider-Man
- Ted
- Brave
- Magic Mike
- Savages
- Madea’s Witness Protection
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- Moonrise Kingdom
- Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted
Elie Chahine 