'The Martian' blasts to top of N. America box office
"The Martian" blasted to the top of the North American box office in its first week in theaters, taking in $54.3 million, industry data showed Monday. The critically-acclaimed blockbuster stars Matt Damon as an astronaut stranded on Mars who must come up with creative ways to survive on the Red Planet. A distant second was "Hotel Transylvania 2," which scared up $33.2 million after leading the box office last week. The sequel, featuring an all-star cast voicing animated ghouls, has brought in $90.7 million in its two weeks on the big screen, according to box office tracker Exhibitor Relations. The thriller "Sicario," featuring Benicio del Toro as a brooding and shadowy agent on a counternarcotics task force, jumped from tenth to third over the weekend, taking in $12.1 million. In its second week in theaters, "The Intern" fell from second to fourth, with $11.7 million in box office receipts. The film stars Robert De Niro, who at 70 takes an internship at a fashion website whose founder is played by Anne Hathaway. "Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials" fell to fifth in its third week in theaters. The second film in the "Maze Runner" trilogy based on popular young adult science-fiction novels earned $7.8 million over the weekend. True crime biopic "Black Mass," about Irish-American mobster James "Whitey" Bulger, remained roughly in the middle of the pack in its third week, at sixth place with $5.8 million. Thriller "Everest," in which a group of climbers find themselves engulfed in a blizzard on the side of the iconic mountain, dropped from fourth to seventh place in its third week out, with $5.6 million. "The Visit," M. Night Shyamalan's low-budget thriller about a trip to grandma's house gone awry, slipped to eighth, bringing in just under $4 million. In its sixth week in theaters, "War Room," which centers on a struggling couple who finds help through prayer, held on to come in ninth with $2.8 million in sales. "The Perfect Guy," about a woman's tryst with a man who isn't what he seems, earned $2.4 million, rounding out the top 10.