LOS ANGELES -- It looks like 20 years isn't too long for Dumb and Dumber to make a comeback.
Dumb and Dumber To topped the box office last weekend with about $36 million in the United States and Canada, pushing Disney's Big Hero 6 out of its No. 1 spot. Big Hero 6 pulled in about $35 million in its second weekend, raising its cumulative domestic total to about $110 million.
The PG-13-rated Dumb and Dumber To, which cost about $40 million to make, exceeded Universal Pictures' $30 million expectation and met tracking estimates. The film again follows dimwitted friends Lloyd (Jim Carrey) and Harry (Jeff Daniels) as they go on a road trip to find Harry's long-lost daughter.
"I think audiences in this day and age want to be entertained," said Universal's head of distribution, Nikki Rocco. "The reason they come to see a movie like this is for its pure humor."
The original Dumb and Dumber grossed $247 million worldwide and made the directing team of brothers Bobby and Peter Farrelly into a powerful comedic brand. Like the original film, which received middling reviews but went on to become a cult classic, the sequel has not been well received. It earned a B-minus rating from audience polling firm CinemaScore and a 27 percent fresh rating on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes.
Nostalgia for the original film likely nudged older crowds into theaters: About 57 percent of moviegoers were 25 and older. To help market the film to younger audiences, Universal released a teaser trailer on popular app Snapchat. The studio used a similar tactic to attract moviegoers younger than 25 for the opening of Ouija in October.
Dumb and Dumber To is the Farrelly brothers' biggest opening to date, bigger than the duo's box office success in the 1990s with films such as There's Something About Mary and Kingpin.
The animated Big Hero 6 became the 85th title in Disney's history to cross the $100 million mark in the United States and Canada. The film, which cost about $165 million to make, continues to do well, propelled by strong reviews and good word of mouth, reflected by an A grade from CinemaScore.
Directed by Disney veterans Don Hall (Winnie the Pooh) and Chris Williams (Bolt), the CG-animated film follows a rebellious robotics prodigy named Hiro Hamada (voiced by Ryan Potter) and a guileless health-care robot named Baymax (Scott Adsit). It is a loose adaptation of a little-known Marvel comic book.
Interstellar held up well enough to finish at No. 3. The space drama added $28.3 million to its domestic gross, which is at about $97 million. The film has soared overseas too: Its worldwide cumulative total is $321.9 million.
The roughly three-hour film follows Cooper (Matthew McConaughey), an engineer and pilot who has been called upon to find a hospitable new planet because Earth is turning into a giant dust bowl. Co-financed by Paramount Pictures and Warner Bros., the drama cost about $165 million to make.
Beyond the Lights, the other major box office debut last weekend, opened at No. 4 with $6.2 million. Directed by Gina Prince-Bythewood, the film follows the life of a music superstar Noni (Gugu Mbatha-Raw) and her relationship with a young cop, Kaz Nicol (Nate Parker). Minnie Driver and Danny Glover also star.
The film, which cost just $7 million to make, received an A on CinemaScore and 84 percent positive reviews on Rotten Tomatoes.
It is the first film to be released under Relativity Studios' newly formed multicultural division under producer Matt Alvarez (Barbershop and Ride Along). It is a production by Relativity, Undisputed Cinema and Homegrown Pictures in association with BET Films.
Fox Searchlight's Birdman flew into the top 10 in its fifth weekend. The film added about $2.5 million to its gross, raising its total domestic gross about $11.6 million.
Foxcatcher, distributed by Sony Pictures Classics, had a strong opening in limited release on six screens in New York and Los Angeles. The wrestling drama starring Steve Carell, Mark Ruffalo and Channing Tatum debuted to $288,113, or a per-screen average of about $48,019.
Also in limited release, Jon Stewart's film Rosewater grossed about $1.2 million on 371 screens, with a per-screen average of $3,111. The movie, at No. 13 and distributed by Open Road Films, is an adaptation of Iranian journalist Maziar Bahari's memoir about his imprisonment.
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
The top 20 movies at U.S. and Canadian theaters Friday through Sunday, followed by distribution studio, gross, number of theater locations, average receipts per location, total gross and number of weeks in release, as compiled Monday by Rentrak, are:
Dumb and Dumber To, Universal, $36,111,775, 3,154 locations, $11,450 average, $36,111,775, 1 week.
Big Hero 6, Disney, $34,662,707, 3,773 locations, $9,187 average, $110,306,598, 2 weeks.
Interstellar, Paramount, $28,307,626, 3,561 locations, $7,949 average, $96,927,481, 2 weeks.
Beyond the Lights, Relativity Media, $6,200,284, 1,789 locations, $3,466 average, $6,200,284, 1 week.
Gone Girl, 20th Century Fox, $4,561,432, 1,959 locations, $2,328 average, $152,635,317, 7 weeks.
St. Vincent, The Weinstein Company, $3,768,670, 2,332 locations, $1,616 average, $33,001,354, 6 weeks.
Fury, Columbia, $3,761,558, 2,382 locations, $1,579 average, $75,892,627, 5 weeks.
Ouija, Universal, $2,965,585, 2,382 locations, $1,245 average, $48,045,650, 4 weeks.
Nightcrawler, Open Road, $2,917,380, 2,103 locations, $1,387 average, $24,879,498, 3 weeks.
Birdman, Fox Searchlight, $2,471,471, 857 locations, $2,884 average, $11,596,838, 5 weeks.
John Wick, Lionsgate, $2,224,552, 1,758 locations, $1,265 average, $38,917,094, 4 weeks.
Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Horrible Day, Disney, $1,614,223, 1,633 locations, $989 average, $62,392,276, 6 weeks.
Rosewater, Open Road, $1,154,303, 371 locations, $3,111 average, $1,154,303, 1 week.
The Judge, Warner Bros., $1,053,266, 803 locations, $1,312 average, $44,378,146, 6 weeks.
Kirk Cameron's Saving Christmas, IDP/Samuel Goldwyn Films, $992,087, 410 locations, $2,420 average, $992,087, 1 week.
The Book of Life, 20th Century Fox, $963,947, 1,006 locations, $958 average, $47,352,516, 5 weeks.
The Theory of Everything, Focus Features, $735,398, 41 locations, $17,937 average, $1,030,870, 2 weeks.
Whiplash, Sony Pictures Classics, $719,740, 419 locations, $1,718 average, $2,401,452, 6 weeks.
The Best of Me, Relativity Media, $692,600, 722 locations, $959 average, $25,740,344, 5 weeks.
The Maze Runner, 20th Century Fox, $632,918, 524 locations, $1,208 average, $100,062,303, 9 weeks.
MovieStyle on 11/21/2014