'Baby' clings to box-office lead, but 'Beauty' keeps its charm

For the second straight weekend, the tie-wearing toddler of "The Boss Baby" nosed out Disney's "Beauty and the Beast" at North American box offices, while the new "Smurf" movie came in a distant and disappointing third, according to industry estimates.

"Baby," the animated tale about a cuteness competition pitting babies against pets, took in $26.3 million for the three-day weekend, Exhibitor Relations reported, bringing its two-week total to $89.4 million. Alec Baldwin voices the chief baby in the DreamWorks production, distributed by Fox.

"Beauty" showed continuing strength, netting $25 million in its fourth week out for an impressive North American total so far of $432.3 million. With its intricate production and rich musical score, the Disney film, starring Emma Watson and Dan Stevens, is the year's highest-grossing film so far.

But Sony, which had been banking on the cuddly appeal of the blue munchkins in "Smurfs: The Lost Village," faced disappointing numbers. The film's $14 million opening weekend was "one of the worst starts in recent memory for an animated offering from a major Hollywood studio," said the Hollywood Reporter website.

The original film in the series, "The Smurfs," earned much of its $563.7 million gross on overseas ticket sales, and Sony appears to be hoping this film will follow form.

"Going in Style," a Warner Bros. comedy starring Morgan Freeman, Alan Arkin and Michael Caine as an octogenarian trio determined to rob a bank after their pension money goes up in smoke, placed fourth in its opening weekend, taking in $12.5 million. That beat expectations for a film aimed at an older audience. It cost just $24 million to produce.

And fifth was Paramount's "Ghost in the Shell," starring Scarlett Johansson in an adaptation of a Japanese manga tale. It had weekend revenues of $7.4 million. 

Rounding out the top 10 are:

"Power Rangers" ($6.2 million)

"Kong: Skull Island" ($5.8 million)

"Logan" ($4.1 million)

"Get Out" ($4.0 million)

"The Case for Christ" ($3.9 million)

source: AFP