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Ender’s Game Ends up at Top of US Box Office; Thor Hammers Overseas Competition

By | Published on November 4, 2013
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“Ender’s Game” took the No. 1 slot at the weekend box office, earning $28 million in its opening weekend and placing “Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa” in second place, according to studio estimates Sunday. The film also earned an additional $2 million in five international territories.

A co-production between Summit Entertainment, OddLot Entertainment and Digital Domain, Ender’s Game stars Asa Butterfield, Harrison Ford, Ben Kingsley, Viola Davis, Hailee Steinfeld and Abigail Breslin. Set in the near future, the story revolves around a young boy (Butterfield) who is recruited by the military to stop an alien race from destroying the world.

The movie is based on the novel by Orson Scott Card, “Ender’s Game,”  and the studio hopes to turn it into a franchise like other young-adult adaptations such as “Twilight” and “The Hunger Games.”

Paramount’s candid-camera comedy starring Johnny Knoxville disguised as an old man brought in an additional $20.5 million in its second weekend, with a domestic haul of more than $62 million and $6 million in international ticket sales.

CBS Films’ “Last Vegas,” featuring an all-star cast of  veteran actors including Michael Douglas, Robert De Niro, Morgan Freeman and Kevin Kline, opened in third place, with $16.5 million.

Relativity Media’s 3-D animated family movie, “Free Birds,” with characters voiced by Owen Wilson, Woody Harrelson and Amy Poehler, debuted in the fourth place, with $16.2 million.

Warner Bros. 3-D sci-fi thriller, “Gravity” continues to hold strong after its fifth weekend at the box office, earning $13.1 million and bringing its domestic total to $220 million and its international gross to $27.1 million.

“12 Years a Slave,” considered an Oscar contender,  earned $4.6 million at No. 7 in its third weekend.

Disney’s “Thor: The Dark World” had a very impressive international performance after earning $109.4 in its debut overseas. The film’s big numbers elevates Disney’s cumulative international box office for 2013  above the studio’s previous international record of $2.303 billion, which was set in 2010.

Here’s this week’s U.S. box office Top 10 (with week of release):

  1. Ender’s Game (1): $28.0 million
  2. Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa (2): $20.5 million
  3. Last Vegas (1): $16.5 million
  4. Free Birds (1): $16.2 million
  5. Gravity (5): $13.1 million
  6. Captain Phillips (4): $8.5 million
  7. 12 Years a Slave (3): $4.6 million
  8. Cloudy … With Meatballs 2 (6): $4.2 million
  9. Carrie (3): $3.4 million
  10. The Counselor (2): $3.3 million

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