LOS ANGELES/NEW YORK (Reuters) – The sequel to “Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs,” where fruits, vegetables and cheeseburgers come to life, devoured rivals at the movie box office by taking in $ 35 million in ticket sales at U.S. and Canadian theaters.
“Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs 2″ outpaced car racing drama “Rush,” which pulled in $ 10.3 million from Friday through Sunday to finish third, behind last week’s winner, Hugh Jackman drama “Prisoners,” which made $ 11.3 million, according to studio estimates on Sunday.
The “Cloudy” sequel, featuring the voices of Bill Hader and Anna Faris, follows a 2009 hit that saw the fictional island of Swallow Falls devoured by giant food that plunges from the sky.
In the new installment, the food comes to life and evolves into “foodimals” that include a hippopotamus, eggplanatee and a cheespider, a cheeseburger with sesame-seed eyes and french fry legs.
“Rush,” from Oscar-winning director Ron Howard, tells the story of the 1976 battle for the Formula One racing championship. Chris Hemsworth stars as Englishman James Hunt and Daniel Bruhl as his rival, Austrian Niki Lauda.
“Prisoners” stars Jackman as a father on a desperate search for his missing daughter.
Sony Corp’s movie studio released “Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2.” “Rush” was distributed by Universal Pictures, a unit of Comcast Corp. “Prisoners” was released by Warner Bros., a unit of Time Warner Inc.
(Reporting by Lisa Richwine and Chris Michaud; Editing by Eric Beech)
