(Bloomberg) -- “Get Out,” a critically acclaimed horror film distributed by Comcast Corp.'s Universal Pictures, led the box office in its debut in North America, easily knocking “The Lego Batman Movie” from first place.
The film from Blumhouse Productions collected an estimated $30.5 million in weekend sales at U.S. and Canadian theaters, ComScore Inc. said in an e-mailed statement Sunday. “The Lego Batman Movie,” the Warner Bros. film now in its third week of release, finished in second place with $19 million.
Blumhouse, led by Jason Blum, is on a streak. His company, which specializes in low-budget films, also produced M. Night Shyamalan's “Split,” the box-office leader in domestic sales this year and the company's most successful to date. Since its Jan. 20 debut, “Split” has grossed almost $200 million worldwide on a $9 million budget. Blumhouse is scheduled to release four more movies this year.
“Get Out” scored a rare 100 percent positive reviews at Rottentomatoes.com, which aggregates critics' opinions. Written and directed by Jordan Peele -- best known as half of the comedy duo Key & Peele -- the film stars Daniel Kaluuya, whose credits include “Sicario” and “Black Mirror.”
Kaluuya plays Chris Washington, a young black man paying an uncomfortable first visit to the parents of his white girlfriend Rose. While there, he learns many of its residents are black and have gone missing.
The feature cost $4.5 million to make, according to Box Office Mojo, and was predicted to collect $27 million by analysts at BoxOfficePro.com.
Lions Gate Entertainment Corp.'s animated comedy “Rock Dog,” about a Tibetan mastiff trying to make it as a musician, failed to crack even the top 10 films with a debut that generated $3.7 million. It cost an estimated $60 million, according to Imdb.com, and was expected to open with $4.78 million, the forecast at Hollywood Stock Exchange.
Critics were split on the picture, which features the voices of Luke Wilson and Eddie Izzard, giving it 44 percent positive reviews at Rottentomatoes.com.
Open Road Films' action thriller “Collide” also failed to finish in the top 10 in its first week, picking up $1.5 million in sales. The film stars Nicholas Hoult as a backpacker who attempts a drug heist to raise money to pay for his girlfriend's medical emergency. After that fails, he takes off across Europe in a race to save her. Felicity Jones and Anthony Hopkins co-star.
“Collide” had an estimated budget of $29.2 million, according to Imdb.com, and garnered just 24 percent positive reviews. Hollywood Stock Exchange was predicting $3.46 million in weekend sales.
--With assistance from Chris Palmeri
To contact the reporter on this story: Anousha Sakoui in Los Angeles at asakoui@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Crayton Harrison at tharrison5@bloomberg.net, Bruce Rule, Faris Khan
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