Amid outrage over a lack of diversity among Oscar nominees, "Ride Along 2," aimed squarely at black and Hispanic moviegoers, arrived to a robust $34 million in weekend ticket sales. Meanwhile, ticket sales for Michael Bay's politically divisive "13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi" were on the soft side.
Starring Ice Cube and Kevin Hart, "Ride Along 2" (Universal Pictures) ended the monthlong run of "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" as the No. 1 film in North America. As often happens with comedy sequels, however, turnout for the second "Ride Along" was weaker than for the original, which took in $41.5 million on the same weekend in 2014. "Ride Along 2" cost roughly $40 million to make; the original cost $25 million.
In its second week of wide release, "The Revenant" (20th Century Fox) — receiving a boost from its 12 Oscar nominations, announced Thursday — collected a strong $29.5 million in second place, for a new total of $87.7 million, according to Rentrak.
"Star Wars: The Force Awakens" was third with $25.1 million in tickets.
That left "13 Hours" (Paramount Pictures) at fourth place with roughly $16 million.
new york times
