North American moviegoers bellied up to a smorgasbord of choices over the weekend: R-rated demons, animated cave people, meaty action heroes and 3-D dinosaurs all delivered solid ticket sales. “Evil Dead†(Sony) was No. 1, taking in a better-than-expected $26 million; it cost about $17 million to produce.
“The Croods,†a DreamWorks Animation film distributed by 20th Century Fox, showed continuing strength in second place, with an estimated $21.1 million in sales for a three-week total of $125.8 million, according to Hollywood.com, which compiles box-office data. Tying for second place with about $21.1 million was “G.I. Joe: Retaliation†(Paramount), which has a two-week total of $86.7 million.
A 3-D conversion of the 20-year-old “Jurassic Park†(Universal) was close behind, taking in a surprisingly robust $18.2 million, with Imax theaters seeing a particularly large turnout. The release represents the beginning of an effort to prime the marketplace for “Jurassic Park 4,†scheduled for release in June 2014. “Olympus Has Fallen†(Film District) was fifth, selling about $10 million in tickets, for a three-week total of $71.1 million.
