LOS ANGELES/NEW YORK (Reuters) – “Prisoners,” a dark thriller starring Hugh Jackman as a father on a desperate search for his missing daughter, locked up the weekend box office title in the United States and Canada, grabbing $ 21.4 million in ticket sales during its first three days in theaters.
Last weekend’s leader, the low-budget horror flick “Insidious: Chapter 2,” dropped to second place with $ 14.5 million, according to studio estimates on Sunday. Dance movie “Battle of the Year” debuted in the No. 5 slot with $ 5 million, topped by both mob comedy “The Family” with $ 7 million and Spanish language hit “Instructions Not Included” with $ 5.7 million.
“Prisoners” tells the story of the search for two young girls who are kidnapped on Thanksgiving Day. One of their fathers, a Pennsylvania survivalist played by Jackman, grows frustrated with the police investigation and employs his own methods to find out what happened.
In “Battle of the Year,” “Lost” TV show actor Josh Holloway stars as the coach of a team competing in an international breakdancing competition. R&B singer Chris Brown plays one of the dancers.
“Prisoners” was distributed by Warner Bros., a unit of Time Warner Inc. FilmDistrict released “Insidious: Chapter 2.” Sony Corp’s movie studio released “Battle of the Year.” “The Family” was distributed by privately held Relativity Media. “Instructions Not Included” was distributed by Pantelion, a joint venture of Hollywood studio Lions Gate Entertainment and Mexican media giant Televisa.
(Reporting by Lisa Richwine and Chris Michaud; Editing by Sandra Maler)
