The career resurgence that actor Liam Neeson has been experiencing in the action genre since 2008 appears poised to continue for the near future, as the third entry in the Taken franchise, titled Taken 3, took the top spot at the box office over the weekend. The movie’s $40.4 million gross continues to cement Neeson’s presence as a reliable box office draw, continuing a string of number 1 openings of his movies that includes 2011’s Unknown and 2014’s Non-Stop, as well as the movie’s predecessor, Taken 2.
The Neeson film was not the only new entry in the box office, as Ava DuVernay’s potential Oscar contender Selma took the second place, finishing with 11.2 million over the weekend. The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies, which took the box office title for the last three weekends, fell to fourth place, with the Stephen Sondheim musical adaptation Into The Woods rounding out the top 3, and the Angelina Jolie-directed Unbroken taking the fifth spot. The Alan Turing biopic The Imitation Game took a rare jump up the charts, moving from seventh place last weekend to sixth place this weekend, as The Woman in Black 2: Angel of Death held on to a top ten spot, landing in ninth place, ahead of The Hunger Games: Mockingjay—Part 1.
Among limited releases, the key opener was the science fiction feature Predestination. Written and directed by the Spierig Brothers, who adapted the film from the Robert Heinlein story All You Zombies, the film opened in 18 theatres, as well as on VOD, earning $42,000 in theatres for a PSA of $ 2,333. The other limited releases of the week were a pair of German films. The documentary Farewell Herr Schwartz took home $4,500 for a PSA of 2,250, while Beloved Sisters, which was Germany’s official submission in the Academy Award Foreign Film category, earned $25,000 for a PSA of $3,125.
The top earners at the US box office for the weekend is as follows:
- Taken 3 — $40,400,000
- Selma — $11,200,000
- Into The Woods — $9,750,000
- The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies — $9,435,000
- Unbroken — $8,368,000
- The Imitation Game — $7,624,000
- Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb — $6,700,000
- Annie — $4,919,000
- The Woman in Black 2: Angel of Death — $4,825,000
- The Hunger Games: Mockingjay—Part 1 — $3,750,000