‘Ride Along’ Cruises To Record-Breaking $41 Million, Oscar Favorites Receive A Boost At The Box Office

“Ride Along” was the big winner in its debut weekend at the box office. The comedy starring Ice Cube and Kevin Hart earned a record-breaking $41.2 million while fellow newcomers “The Nut Job,” “Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit” and “Devil’s Due” also cracked the top ten.

“Ride Along” scored the biggest three-day January opening and is expected to become the biggest Martin Luther King Jr. holiday weekend movie, notes the Hollywood Reporter, besting the $46.1 million earned by “Cloverfield” over the holiday in 2008.

Open Road Films’ “The Nut Job,” with voices from Will Arnett, Brendan Fraser and Katherine Hegel, exceeded expectations. The animated family film earned $20.6 million in its debut and should be a pretty decent hit due to its low production budget, an estimated $42 million, reports Box Office Mojo.

The $20.6 earned by “The Nut Job” was not enough to take second place away from “Lone Survivor.” Earning $37.9 million in its debut, the Afghanistan biopic starring Mark Wahlberg earned $23.2 million.

It’s been 11 years since the last Jack Ryan movie, based on the popular Tom Clancy series of novels, and THR believes the lack of recognition may have led to the lukewarm $17.2 million earned by “Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit.” The movie, starring Chris Pine (“Star Trek”) and directed by Kenneth Branagh (“Thor”), performed well at the foreign box office, opening in 31 markets and earning $22.4 million for a worldwide total of $39.6 million. “Shadow Recruit” is expected to earn $20.4 million over the four-day weekend.

“Frozen” continues to pull in audiences in its ninth week in theaters, earning $12 million at the box office and landing in fifth place. “Devil’s Due,” the other newcomer of the week, finished in seventh place, earning $8.5 million. The horror movie’s viral video campaign may have helped its box office take while the film’s small budget, just $7 million, means “Devil’s Due” will earn back its budget and be a modest success for Fox.

Awards season, which kicked off with the Golden Globes, has led to box office bumps for “American Hustle” and “August: Osage County.” “American Hustle,” which won for best ensemble at the SAG Awards on Saturday, finished in sixth place and earned $10.6 million while “August” earned $7.6 million and landed in eighth place.

Oscar favorites “Gravity” and “12 Years A Slave” returned to theaters for a limited engagement and earned $1.9 million and $1.5 million, respectively.

The box office top ten, including projections for the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday weekend, is below.