‘Angry Birds’ Tops Box Office Weekend; How Much Has Film Made In Ticket Sales?

Viewers may recognize some of the characters from the smartphone game by the same name, as "The Angry Birds Movie" topped the box office this weekend, bringing in an estimated $39 million, the Wall Street Journal reported Sunday. The animated movie, released by Sony, beat out the Seth Rogen comedy sequel "Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising” and the Ryan Gosling and Russell Crowe drama “The Nice Guys.”

"Angry Birds" stars Jason Sudeikis as a cynical bird amid a community of extremely optimistic feathered friends. The movie also features Maya Rudolph, Peter Dinklage, Josh Gad and Bill Hader. Despite its box-office-topping numbers, critics gave the film mixed reviews. It had a 42 percent average rating on the movie review website Rotten Tomatoes.

"This new movie, which uses the bright, color-rich palette of the smartphone phenom for which it’s named, as well as its hook of nonaeronautic feathered creatures getting around via catapult, is not much beyond a superficially amiable ball of fluff," read an excerpt from the New York Times review.

Other critics were slightly more charitable, with Rolling Stone noting, “Still, there's no denying the movie's high spirits or its irresistible invitation to shake your sillies out.”

The film is part of creator Rovio Entertainment Ltd.’s plan to turn the smartphone app into a franchise, complete with merchandise, children's toys and a sequel to the original game.

Despite coming in second this weekend, however, Disney/Marvel’s "Captain America: Civil War" is the top-grossing movie of the year thus far, beating out "Zootopia" Wednesday. "Captain America: Civil War," features characters from the Avengers series, such as Captain America (Chris Evans) and Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.), surpassed the $1 billion mark worldwide this weekend, grossing $347.4 million in the U.S. and Canada alone since its release earlier this month.