Rogue One: A Star Wars Story soared to top of box office with $290.5 million globally on its opening weekend.
It is the second-biggest weekend December debut in history.
The US accounted for about half of the first Star Wars spinoff’s total, making $155 million, according to box office analyst Exhibitor Relations.
However, the tally is less than the record $248 million taken in 2015 by Star Wars: The Force Awakens.
Rogue One is yet to open in China and South Korea.
The biggest movie of all time title is still held by Avatar, which made almost $2.8 billion in 2009, followed by Titanic on close to $2.2 billion in 1997. The Force Awakens has made about $2.07 billion.
Produced by Lucasfilm and directed by Briton Gareth Edwards, Rogue One stars Felicity Jones and Riz Ahmed, alongside Forest Whitaker and Diego Luna.
The first standalone chapter in Rogue One is set shortly before the events of the original 1977 movie and tells the story of Rebel Alliance fighters trying to steal plans for the Empire’s feared Death Star.
The next movie in the Star Wars sequel trilogy, known as Episode VIII, is scheduled to be released in December 2017.
The Boss has unseated Batman v Superman: Dawn Of Justice from the top of the North American box office.
Melissa McCarthy’s new comedy, in which she plays an eccentric tycoon, took an estimated $23.5 million on its debut weekend.
Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice was knocked to second place in its third week, pulling in an estimated $23.4 million.
The margin between the top two films is one of the closest in recent years, according to industry analysts.
Dawn of Justice has defied poor reviews, having taken almost $300 million in the US.
The movie, in which Ben Affleck plays Batman and Henry Cavill takes the role of Superman, now ranks as the third highest-grossing DC Comics release to date in the US, according to Box Office Mojo.
Dawn of Justice’s box office haul has now surpassed 2013’s Man of Steel, also starring Henry Cavill, which took $291 million. However, Dawn of Justice‘s takings has dropped by 54% since its first week of release.
The Boss was co-written by Melissa McCarthy and her husband Ben Falcone.
Critics had not expected it to perform well, but the movie has done better than Melissa McCarthy’s 2014 comedy Tammy.
In third place came Disney’s Zootopia with $14.4 million, slipping one spot from last week.
Now in its sixth weekend of release, the animated movie featuring the voices of Jason Bateman and Ginnifer Goodwin has made a US total of $296 million.
Comedy sequel My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2 was at No 4, making $6.4 million.
North American box office top 4:
The Boss – $23.5 million
Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice – $23.4 million
Jurassic World and Pixar’s Inside Out battled for this weekend’s box office supremacy.
Jurassic World roared into the lead with $102 million, making it only the second film after The Avengers to make $100 million in two separate weekends.
Inside Out, which unfolds largely inside the mind of a young girl, came second with $91 million.
It is the biggest opening weekend for a non-sequel in box office history.
The record was previously held by Avatar, which took $77 million when it debuted in 2009.
However, Inside Out‘s second place opening breaks Pixar’s perfect run at the top of the charts. Starting with 1995’s Toy Story, all 14 of the studio’s previous films had opened at No 1.
“Inside Out would have been number one in any other weekend,” said Phil Contrino, vice president of BoxOffice.com.
“At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter. Being number one is overrated.”
Disney – which owns the Pixar studio – noted that Frozen had also debuted at No 2, before going on to become Disney’s biggest-ever animated release with a global haul of nearly $1.3 billion.
Inside Out was judged to be a tough sell. A genre-defying story of a girl’s inner turmoil, it portrays her emotions as characters – Joy, Sadness, Fear, Anger and Disgust – who live inside her mind.
Meanwhile, Jurassic World broke another record – it is now the highest-earning film in the dinosaur franchise. It has made $398 million in just two weeks, surpassing the $357 million made by the original Jurassic Park in 1993.
Jurassic World, aka Jurassic Park IV: The Extinction has become the first film to take more than $500 million at the box office on its opening weekend.
The fourth installment in the Jurassic Park series was the most popular screening in all 66 countries where it was released.
Jurassic World made $204.6million in the US, according to Exhibitor Relations.
The movie took $100 million only in China as part of the record global total of $511.8 million.
The Universal Pictures release had the second-highest grossing opening weekend in the US.
The record is held by Marvel’s The Avengers, which took $207.4 million in 2012.
Jurassic World was co-produced by Steven Spielberg, who directed the first two films in the series, and directed by Colin Trevorrow.
It stars Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard.
Jeff Bock, a box office analyst with Exhibitor Relations, told Variety.com: “People should call dinosaurs the original superheroes. They are just as big as Iron Man or Superman or Batman right now.”
Jurassic Park was a major worldwide success in 1993, taking more than $1 billion globally.
It was followed by The Lost World: Jurassic Park in 1997 and Jurassic Park III in 2001.
Jurassic Park III got poor reviews and made far less than its predecessors.
Analysts say the success of Jurassic World will vindicate the decision to reboot the franchise for a new generation of dinosaur fans.
Avengers: Age of Ultron has topped the North American box office with $191.3 million, the second-biggest opening weekend ever in the US.
The sequel failed to beat the record-breaking opening of the original Avengers movie, which took $207.4 million when it debuted in 2012.
The weekend’s second biggest film, Age of Adaline, took just $6.3 million.
The Marvel Disney film has taken $631.1 million worldwide so far.
Analysts suggested sports events may have affected Age of Ultron‘s US performance, with Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao’s boxing fight, the Kentucky Derby and NBA playoffs all scheduled over the weekend.
Avengers: Age of Ultron marks the return of Robert Downey Jr., Scarlett Johansson, Mark Ruffalo and Chris Evans as Iron Man, Black Widow, The Hulk and Captain America.
This time the superhero team – which also includes Chris Hemsworth as Thor and Jeremy Renner as Hawkeye – are battling to save the earth from villainous robot Ultron, voiced by James Spader.
Furious 7 took $6.1 million in third place with Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2 in fourth and animated film Home rounding out the weekend’s top five.
Furious 7 has become the fastest film to take more than $1 billion worldwide.
The movie took just 17 days to break the $1 billion barrier, compared to 19 for Avengers and the final Harry Potter.
Furious 7, starring Vin Diesel and the late Paul Walker, has also topped the US box office for a third week with $29.1 million.
Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2, starring Kevin James, was second with $24 million.
The movie, which moved the shopping center policeman’s segway adventures to Las Vegas, was savaged by critics giving it a 0% score on aggregate reviews site Rotten Tomatoes.
Low-budget, social media-themed thriller Unfriended took third place over the weekend with $16 million – 16 times the film’s modest production budget.
It marks another success story for production company Blumfeld, which has already made the highly profitable but low budget movies The Purge, Ouija and The Boy Next Door.
Tom Hardy’s Soviet thriller Child 44 took just $600,000 across 510 cinemas.
With a budget of $50 million it means the film could be one of the year’s biggest flops.
Rounding out the weekend’s top five were Home with $10.3 million and The Longest Ride with $6.9 million.
According to box office tracker Rentrak and studio estimates, Furious 7 has already taken almost $300 million in the US and Canada alone.
A song from the Furious 7 soundtrack – Wiz Khalifa’s See You Again, featuring Charlie Puth – has also been breaking records.
See You Again got more Spotify streams in 24 hours than any other track in the US, and also topped the UK singles chart on Sunday as the fastest-selling single of 2015 so far.
Furious 7 has topped the global box office by taking $384 million in its opening weekend.
Almost half of that figure – $190 million – was made at the US box office.
Globally, it is the fourth-highest opening of all time, beaten only by two Harry Potter movies and The Avengers.
Interest in Furious 7 was at least partially tied to its late star Paul Walker, who died in a car crash in before the movie was completed in 2013.
Following the fatal accident, production on Furious 7 was suspended while the filmmakers decided whether or not to proceed.
The team ultimately decided to delay the release from its scheduled July 2014 date. Paul Walker’s scenes were completed using a mixture of computer animation and body doubles – including two of the star’s younger brothers, Caleb and Cody.
“This is a bittersweet installment in the franchise,” said Phil Contrino, vice president and chief analyst at BoxOffice.com.
“Walker’s passing made this movie more intriguing for people who hadn’t seen some of the installments. It raised awareness and its success is a tribute to him.”
The original – The Fast and the Furious, released in June 2001 – was a sleeper hit that spawned a few moderately successful sequels.
After the third movie in the series, Fast and Furious: Tokyo Drift, left cinemas with a franchise-worst box office of $158 million, it seemed the series would be scrapped, or move to the straight-to-DVD market.
Instead, executives persuaded Vin Diesel, the star of the original film, to return and made Fast & Furious – a heist film set overseas.
Since then, the franchise has gone from strength to strength, with each movie outperforming the last.
North American box office Top 5:
Furious 7 – $143.6 million
Home – $27.4 million
Get Hard – $12.9 million
Cinderella – $10.3 million
The Divergent Series: Insurgent – $10 million [youtube Skpu5HaVkOc 650]
Will Smith’s movie Focus has debuted at No 1 on the North American box office chart, knocking Fifty Shades of Grey off the top spot.
However, it was a relatively modest opening for Will Smith, with Focus earning an estimated $19.1 million between February 28 and March 1.
Fifty Shades of Grey fell to fourth with $10.9 million after spending two weeks at number one.
In second place was Colin Firth’s spy thriller Kingsman: The Secret Service.
Kingsman: The Secret Service took $11.8 million over the weekend, just ahead of The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water, which made $11.2 million in its fourth week of release.
The second highest new entry, horror film The Lazarus Effect, rounded out the top five, taking $10.6 million.
Focus gives Will Smith his first major role since 2013’s After Earth, the Sci-Fi flop that also starred his teenage son Jaden, and went on to win three Razzie awards.
The movie is about a conman who introduces his young lover to the tricks of the trade before breaking off their relationship. Three years later, they meet again in Argentina, where they are both trying to scam the same billionaire.
Some commentators have concluded that Will Smith’s box office pulling power is on the wane given the relatively low takings for a No 1 movie.
However, Warner Bros said Focus, which was made for about $50 million, was only predicted to take about $21 million in its opening weekend.
Dumb and Dumber To has topped the US box office chart on its first weekend in cinemas.
The intentionally misspelt sequel to Jim Carrey’s 1994 comedy made an estimated $38.1 million over the weekend.
The film, which sees Jim Carrey’s Lloyd Christmas reunited with Jeff Daniels’ Harry Dunne, edged out Disney animation Big Hero 6, which made $36 million in its second weekend in the US and Canada.
Space exploration epic Interstellar fell one place to three.
Directed by film-making siblings Peter and Bobby Farrelly, Dumb and Dumber To arrived in cinemas almost 20 years on from its hit predecessor.
Neither Jim Carrey nor Jeff Daniels appeared in a prequel, Dumb and Dumberer: When Harry Met Lloyd that was released in 2003 without Farrelly brothers’ involvement.
The sequel, which took years to get off the ground, helped Jim Carrey achieve his most successful debut in a live-action film since that year’s Bruce Almighty.
Big Hero 6‘s performance has helped Disney surpass $4 billion in global sales for only the second year in its history.
The milestone was reached thanks to the success of such titles as Frozen, Maleficent, Guardians of the Galaxy and Captain America: Winter Soldier.
Interstellar, about astronauts seeking a new planet for mankind to inhabit, made an estimated $29.2 million in the US and Canada on its third weekend on release.
An ongoing international roll-out saw Christopher Nolan’s film make an additional $106 million outside those territories, thanks in part to a strong opening in China.
Romantic drama Beyond the Lights made a modest debut in this week’s US and Canada chart, opening at four with weekend takings of $6.5 million.
Beyond the Lights, about a troubled R&B singer who finds solace in a policeman on her security detail, stars Gugu Mbatha-Raw, seen earlier this year in Belle.
Thriller Gone Girl, starring Ben Affleck and Rosamund Pike, completes this week’s top five.
Big Hero 6 has beaten star-studded Interstellar into second place at the North America box office over the weekend.
Disney’s cartoon Big Hero 6 – based on characters from Marvel comics – amassed $56.2 million, eclipsing Interstellar‘s takings of $50 million.
Space movie Interstellar, starring Anne Hathaway and Matthew McConaughey, took first place in the global box office rundown.
Ouija and Nightcrawler, last week’s joint number one, fell to four and six.
It is only the fourth time in US box office history that two films have opened with $50 million or above, according to experts Rentrak.
Big Hero 6 has beaten star-studded Interstellar into second place at the North America box office over the weekend
Interstellar, the latest film by Dark Knight and Inception director Christopher Nolan, which tells the story of astronauts who are searching for a habitable planet after the Earth is decimated by dust storms, cost $165 million to make.
It has inevitably been compared to last year’s starry space epic Gravity, which had a bigger box office haul in its opening week.
Interstellar is likely to enjoy a further worldwide sales boost when it opens in China on November 12, while its makers have said they will target families and young men in a bid to sustain its ticket sales.
Scarlett Johansson’s action thriller Lucy has topped the North American box office with $44 million over the weekend.
Lucy is about a woman who unlocks hitherto untapped brain powers.
Fantasy movie Hercules had to settle for an estimated $29 million between Friday and Sunday.
The film’s distributor Paramount said the takings equaled expectations.
Directed by France’s Luc Besson, Lucy tells the story of a woman who can move objects with her mind after a drug causes her brain to operate at abnormally high levels.
Hercules sees Dwayne Johnson take on the role of the fabled Greek demigod, previously played on screen by Steve Reeves, Arnold Schwarzenegger and others.
Scarlett Johansson’s action thriller Lucy has topped the North American box office with $44 million over the weekend
Brett Ratner’s movie performed far more strongly than The Legend of Hercules, another outing for the character that could only muster $8.6 million when it opened in US cinemas in January.
Overall North American box office takings are still down around 20% compared to last year’s record summer.
It is hoped Guardians of the Galaxy, the latest comic book fantasy from the Marvel stable, will reverse the trend when it opens in cinemas later this week.
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, last week’s box office champ, fell two places to three with third weekend takings of $16.4 million.
That was enough to rank it above thriller sequel The Purge: Anarchy and Disney’s Planes: Fire and Rescue, both of which were also down two places on last week’s placing.
Two other new entries enjoyed more limited success than Lucy and Hercules, with both making their debuts outside of this week’s top five.
And So It Goes, a romantic comedy starring Michael Douglas and Diane Keaton, opened at eight with first weekend takings of $4.6 million, while A Most Wanted Man made its bow at 10 with a $2.7 million tally.
North American box office Top 5:
Lucy – $44 million
Hercules – $29 million
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes – $16.4 million
The Purge: Anarchy – $9.9 million
Fire & Rescue – $9.3 million [youtube MVt32qoyhi0 650]
The Lego Movie remains on the top of the North American box office chart, after spending a third week at number one.
The film earned $31.5 million over the weekend, according to early estimates.
Kevin Costner crime drama 3 Days to Kill debuted in second place with $12.3 million.
A sequel of the Lego Movie has just been announced, with a release date set for May 2017.
The Lego Movie is the highest-grossing film of the year so far.
Gladiator drama Pompeii, starring Game of Thrones actor Kit Harington, took third place with $10 million, despite a mauling from many film critics.
The RoboCop reboot dropped from third to fourth place in its second week of release, taking $9.4 million while George Clooney’s war movie, The Monuments Men, also dropped a place, from fourth to fifth.
The Lego Movie remains on the top of the North American box office chart, after spending a third week at number one
Two Kevin Hart movies, About Last Night and Ride Along, took sixth and seventh place respectively.
Ride Along has also secured a sequel off the back of the first film’s successful run.
Ride Along has topped the North American box office for a third consecutive week.
The film, starring Kevin Hart and rapper Ice Cube, took $12.3 million over the Super Bowl weekend, bringing its total domestic haul to $93 million.
Disney animation Frozen climbed back up the chart to two, benefitting from the release of a sing-along version.
The film has now taken more than $360 million in the US over 11 weeks.
Frozen is now the fourth highest-grossing animated release in the US.
Its soundtrack is currently number one in the Billboard 200, while its signature track Let It Go – sung by Idina Menzel – has been nominated for a best song Oscar, with the film itself up for best animated feature.
Ride Along has topped the North American box office for a third consecutive week
Zac Efron chick flick That Awkward Moment opened at number three earning $9 million.
Animated squirrel comedy The Nut Job fell one place to four, while Mark Wahlberg’s Afghanistan war drama Lone Survivor slipped three places to number five.
The only other entry in the top 10 was Labor Day at seven.
Starring Kate Winslet and Josh Brolin, the drama is an adaption of Joyce Maynard’s novel of the same name about an escaped convict who takes refuge in the home of a depressed single mother.
Next weekend’s release of 3D animation The Lego Movie is expected to knock Ride Along from the top spot.
Ice Cube’s cop comedy Ride Along stayed firm at number one in North American box office, taking $21.2 million.
Lone Survivor, starring Mark Wahlberg, held its nerve in second spot, taking £12.6 million.
The film, about the war in Afghanistan, was relatively inexpensive to make and is heading towards a cumulative total of $100 million.
Animated films The Nut Job stayed at number three, with Frozen just behind in its 10th week of release.
The Disney movie has becomes the second biggest original animation of all time, behind Finding Nemo.
Political thriller Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit, boasting a line-up including director-actor Kenneth Branagh and Keira Knightley, slipped back to fifth place after a modest debut at four last week.
The latest big screen version of Frankenstein has failed to impress cinema audiences in North America, debuting in a lowly sixth place.
Ice Cube’s cop comedy Ride Along stayed firm at number one in North American box office
Aaron Eckhart’s beefy vision of the legendary monster made $8.3 million, while the film cost $65 million.
Variety magazine is calling I, Frankenstein the “year’s biggest financial flop so far”, which is likely to slip even further next week as it loses big screen slots to other films including the remake of Robocop.
In the race towards the Oscars at the beginning of March, American Hustle has made the biggest box office headway so far at number seven.
The leading Academy Awards contender, with 10 nominations, was ahead of August: Osage County and Martin Scorsese’s The Wolf of Wall Street with North American audiences.
Other best picture contenders had nationwide debuts this weekend, including Dallas Buyers Club, which made a modest $2 million.
It previously opened in autumn but had a limited run at a smaller number of cinemas.
Iron Man 3 was the highest-earning film of 2013 around the world.
Iron Man 3, in which Robert Downey Jr. reprises his role as billionaire crime-fighter Tony Stark, made $1.2 billion, according to online movie tracker Box Office Mojo.
Animated comedy Despicable Me 2 came in at number two with global takings of $918 million.
In the third slot was The Hunger Games: Catching Fire which made $795 million.
According to Variety, the top 10 includes eight sequels or reboots, two original properties and three that were animated.
Gravity, Alfonso Cuaron’s 3D film about astronauts adrift in space, is at number seven having made $653 million since it was released in October.
The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug also made a late entry into the top 10.
The second installment in the big screen Hobbit adaptation, directed by Peter Jackson, has topped the North American box office since the film was released in mid-December.
Iron Man 3 was the highest-earning film of 2013 around the world
Top 10 worldwide box office 2013:
1. Iron Man 3 – $1,215 million
2. Despicable Me 2 – $918 million
3. The Hunger Games: Catching Fire – $795 million
4. Fast & Furious 6 – $788 million
5. Monsters University – $743 million
6. Man of Steel – $662 million
7. Gravity – $653 million
8. Thor: The Dark World – $629 million
9. The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug – $614 million
10. The Croods – $587 million
Source: Box Office Mojo
According to other industry statistics, the North American box office is projected to reach $10.9 billion in 2013 – representing its largest ever take, surpassing 2012’s total takings of $10.8 billion by more than $100 million.
However, the estimated number of tickets sold remains similar to last year. The National Association of Theatre Owners projects the actual number of tickets sold in 2013 will remain at 1.36 billion, the LA Times reported.
Ticket-price inflation and pricier 3D and Imax movies helped lift revenue to an all-time high even as attendance failed to match its peak, it said.
Hobbit sequel, The Desolation of Smaug, has topped the US box office, taking $73.7 million, according to initial estimates.
However, The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug was down on the first Hobbit installment, which took $84.6 million in its opening weekend last year.
Dan Fellman, president of domestic distribution at Warner Bros admitted the takings “could have been a little better”.
He said bad weather in the east of the country “probably took a couple million dollars out of my pocket”.
“But our box office will survive. We are right on target to do very similar numbers to the last Hobbit, which grossed $1 billion worldwide [overall],” Dan Fellman said.
Disney animation Frozen moved down into second place taking $22.2 million in its third weekend. The film has made $164.4 million in the US since its release.
Tyler Perry’s A Madea Christmas came in third place with $16.2 million. Box-office analyst Paul Dergarabedian said he thought bad weather would also have affected the film’s takings as Tyler Perry’s films normally open in the $20 million range.
Hobbit sequel, The Desolation of Smaug, has topped the US box office, taking $73.7 million
The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, was in fourth place with $13.2 million.
Catching Fire has now grossed $739.9 million, surpassing the box office total for the first film which took $691 million.
Thor: The Dark World remained in the top five with $2.7 million, bringing its US domestic haul to $198.1 million.
In sixth place was Out of the Furnace, starring Christian Bale and Casey Affleck, taking $2.3 million in its second weekend.
Disney comedy Delivery Man, starring Vince Vaughn, was at seven in its fourth weekend, with Philomena at eight ahead of The Book Thief.
Homefront, starring Jason Statham and James Franco, rounded out the top 10.
David O Russell’s American Hustle opened in just six locations but took $690,000. It will be on general release in the US on January 1st, 2014.
As the year draws to a close Paul Dergarabedian said the yearly box office total looked like it will eclipse 2012’s $10.8 billion box office record.
North American box office Top 5:
1. The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug – $73.7 million
2. Frozen – $22.2 million
3. Tyler Perry’s a Madea Christmas – $16.2 million
4. The Hunger Games: Catching Fire – $13.2 million
The Butler has topped the North American box office for a second week, taking $17 million.
Officially titled Lee Daniel’s The Butler, because of a legal tussle, it tells the story of a long-serving servant in the home of the president.
Jennifer Aniston’s We’re The Millers remained second with $13.5 million, taking its total to $90 million.
The World’s End from British director Edgar Wright opened in fourth place.
The film, the final in the trilogy from Edgar Wright, Simon Pegg and Nick Frost, took $8.9 million, following an extensive promotional tour from the director and cast.
Its predecessor, Hot Fuzz, took $5.8 million when it open in 2007.
The producers of Mortal Instruments: City of Bones – which debuted in third spot with $9.3 million – are hoping to have hit upon the next big teen franchise in the mould of Twilight or The Hunger Games.
The Butler has topped the North American box office for a second week, taking $17 million
Based on young adult fantasy book series, Sony Screen Gems has already committed to a sequel.
The top five is completed by Disney’s Planes, a spin-off of Cars, which took $8.6 million.
The global box office chart, which excludes the US and Canada, was dominated by Jurassic Park, which has been re-released in 3D. Its strong showing, with $30 million, bodes well for the franchise restarting next year with Jurassic Park 4.
Second in the global chart was Matt Damon’s Elysium, followed by Monster’s University and Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters.
Iron Man 3 has triumphed at the US box office, with the second biggest ever opening weekend in the US.
Comic book sequel Iron Man 3, starring Robert Downey Jr., took an estimated $175.3 million across the weekend.
Only 2012’s The Avengers, which united Iron Man with fellow Marvel characters, had a bigger opening, taking $207.4 million when it opened last May.
Iron Man 3 is the final episode in the trilogy, and follows Tony Stark’s battle with terrorist “the Mandarin”.
Iron Man 3 has triumphed at the US box office, with the second biggest ever opening weekend
Directed by Shane Black, who previously worked with Robert Downey Jr. on Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, the film co-stars Gwyneth Paltrow, as Pepper Potts, and Sir Ben Kingsley as the Mandarin.
Iron Man 3, which has enjoyed largely positive reviews, has easily outstripped the opening weekends of the first two films, which took $98.6 million and $128.1 million respectively.
The film opened a week earlier overseas, taking $504.8 million at the international box office – meaning it has already grossed $680.1 million in total.
Robert Downey Jr. is expected to reunite with fellow comic book characters Captain America, Thor and the Hulk in the forthcoming Avengers sequel, which is scheduled to be released in 2015.
Cavemen animated comedy The Croods topped the North American box office with $44.7 million in its first weekend in US and Canadian cinemas, according to studio estimates.
Action thriller Olympus Has Fallen also opened strongly in second place with a first weekend tally of $30.5 million.
Gerard Butler and Morgan Freeman star in the film, in which North Korean terrorists invade the White House.
The Croods started out eight years ago as a co-production with British animators Aardman, scripted by Monty Python’s John Cleese.
Dreamworks took over the project – originally titled Crood Awakening – when Aardman’s five-film deal was curtailed after just two productions with the US studio.
The Croods topped the North American box office with $44.7 million in its first weekend in US and Canadian cinemas
Featuring the voices of Nicolas Cage and Emma Stone, The Croods tells of a prehistoric family who encounter danger and strange new creatures when they are forced to quit their cave.
The film’s success saw last week’s number one movie, Disney fantasy Oz the Great and Powerful, knocked down to third place after a fortnight in pole position.
Olympus Has Fallen, whose title refers to the Secret Service codename for the US president’s Washington DC residence, performed better than some analysts predicted.
Its US release comes ahead of White House Down, another thriller with a similar premise that arrives in cinemas later this year.
The Call, a thriller starring Halle Berry as an emergency services phone operator who tries to save an abducted teenager, claimed fourth place in the chart after its second weekend in cinemas.
Its $8.7 million tally topped that of new release Admission, a comedy starring Tina Fey and Paul Rudd that could only manage $6.4 million.
The weekend’s overall takings were down 34% on a year ago, when The Hunger Games opened with a record-breaking $155 million haul.
The Avengers has topped the US and Canadian box office for the second week in a row, taking $103.2 million, studio estimates suggest.
Superhero movie The Avengers is now the first in Hollywood history to ring up more than $100 million in its second weekend of release.
It is the movie’s second record, after scoring the biggest-ever US opening weekend, with takings of $207.4 million.
The blockbuster sees a team of Marvel comic-book heroes team up to fight an extra-terrestrial threat.
Among the cast are Robert Downey Jr., Scarlett Johansson and Chris Hemsworth – who have appeared in previous Marvel movies as Iron Man, Black Widow and Thor, respectively.
The Avengers has topped the US and Canadian box office for the second week in a row, taking $103.2 million
Globally, the film looks set to top the $1 billion mark this weekend, distributor Disney said on Sunday.
The Avengers’ performance this week left Tim Burton and Johnny Depp’s Dark Shadows standing in the dust.
Their spoof horror movie, which opened on Friday, made an otherwise-respectable $28.8 million, taking second place at the box office.
Romantic comedy Think Like a Man finished in third place with ticket sales of $6.3 million.
The Avengers was directed and co-written by Joss Whedon, creator of the TV series Buffy The Vampire Slayer.
An Oscar-winner for his work on Toy Story, Joss Whedon has had a notoriously rough decade – with TV series Firefly and Dollhouse cancelled, and his horror film Cabin In The Woods delayed by three years due to financial trouble at MGM.
After The Avengers took $207.4 million in the US last week – the biggest opening weekend on record – Joss Whedon posted a public letter on his website, thanking his supporters.
“Topping a box office record is super-dope,” he wrote.
“People have told me that this matters, that my life is about to change. I am sure that is true. And change is good – change is exciting.
“What doesn’t change is that I’ve had the smartest, most loyal, most passionate, most articulate group of – I’m not even gonna say fans. I’m going with ‘peeps’ – that any cult oddity such as my bad self could have dreamt of.”
Joss Whedon also faced up to the fact that his box office success could soon be eclipsed by The Dark Knight Rises – the heavily-anticipated final chapter of Christopher Nolan’s Batman trilogy.
“I will feel sad, but let’s look at the bigger picture,” he said.
“I can’t say this enough: This is not a zero sum game. Our successes, whoever has the mostest, are a boon to each other.”
Elsewhere in the US box office, The Hunger Games held on to the number four spot, bringing its total domestic takings to $388 million.
Zac Efron’s romantic drama The Lucky One was at number five, while two British films took spots in the top ten.
Aardman’s Pirates! was at number six, taking $3.1 million, while comedy The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel jumped from 16 to 8, taking $2.7 million.
Superhero movie The Avengers has broken the record for the biggest US opening weekend, taking $200 million, early figures show.
The previous best opening weekend was Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2, which opened in July 2011 with $169 million.
Included in the top five of biggest openers are The Dark Knight and Spider-Man 3.
The Dark Knight, starring Christian Bale as the Caped Crusader, took $158 million in its opening weekend in 2008, while Spider-Man 3 took $151 million.
Both superheroes will once again be seen on screen during the summer.
Superhero movie The Avengers has broken the record for the biggest US opening weekend, taking $200 million
The Avengers, directed by Joss Whedon, failed to beat the final Harry Potter’s first day takings record of $91 million but surpassed it over the following two days.
No other big films dared go up against it, with only the British film The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel being released on the same day.
The Avengers has so far taken $641 million worldwide.
Dating comedy Think Like a Man is still on top at the North American box office after taking $18 million between Friday and Sunday.
Chris Brown stars in the film, based on Steve Harvey’s dating advice book.
But Think Like a Man is likely to be swept aside by The Avengers when it opens in the US on Friday.
The super-hero blockbuster has already been released in 39 countries and has made $178 million in international ticket sales so far.
Second place in this weekend’s US and Canadian chart was taken by Aardman animation The Pirates! Band of Misfits which, according to studio estimates, plundered $11.4 million in its opening weekend.
The nautical comedy sees Hugh Grant provide the voice for an inept buccaneer.
Dating comedy Think Like a Man is still on top at the North American box office after taking $18 million between Friday and Sunday
Zac Efron’s romantic drama The Lucky One fell one place to three, having made $11.3 million in its second weekend on release.
With The Hunger Games at four, it was left to romantic comedy The Five-Year Engagement to round out this week’s top five.
According to Paul Dergarabedian of box office tracker Hollywood.com, “going to the movies… clearly was not the number one priority this weekend”.
“There’s so much anticipation for The Avengers that the newcomers kind of got lost in the shuffle.”
Those newcomers included Jason Statham action thriller Safe and John Cusack’s The Raven, a horror mystery inspired by the work of Edgar Allan Poe.
Safe was ranked sixth in the chart with $7.7 million, while The Raven claimed seventh place with $7.3 million.
The film features an ensemble of Marvel comic book characters including Captain America, the Incredible Hulk and Robert Downey Jr.’s Iron Man.
Top 5 films in US and Canada
• 1. Think Like a Man – $18 million
• 2. The Pirates! Band of Misfits – $11.4 million
• 3. The Lucky One – $11.3 million
• 4. The Hunger Games – $11.25 million
• 5. The Five-Year Engagement – $11.2 million
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