`Boss Baby' Takes Charge of Box Office for Second Weekend

(Bloomberg) -- “The Boss Baby,” starring Alec Baldwin as the voice of a toddler trying to thwart an evil CEO, led the North American box office for a second straight weekend, outdrawing several new releases including a fresh “Smurfs” picture.

The animated film, made by Comcast Corp.'s DreamWorks Animation and distributed by 21st Century Fox Inc.'s film division, took in an estimated $26.3 million in U.S. and Canadian theaters, researcher ComScore Inc. said Sunday in an emailed statement. Sony Corp.'s “Smurfs: The Lost Village” landed in third place, while the new Warner Bros. caper film “Going in Style” opened in fourth place. “The Case for Christ,” from Pure Flix, placed 10th.

Family features have been strong performers this year. “The Boss Baby” in its opening weekend toppled Walt Disney Co.'s “Beauty and the Beast” from the No. 1 spot and had $131 million in worldwide sales heading into the weekend, according to Box Office Mojo on mid-day Friday. On average, DreamWorks Animation films cost as much as $135 million to make and $65 million to market, according to Bloomberg Intelligence.

“The Boss Baby,” which also features the voices of Steve Buscemi, Jimmy Kimmel and Lisa Kudrow, was expected to generate $28 million this weekend, according to analysts at BoxOfficePro.com. Disney's “Beauty and the Beast,” a live-action remake of the animated classic, came in second with $25 million in weekend sales.

Among the new releases, “Smurfs: The Lost Village” took in $14 million for Sony's Columbia Pictures. Forecasts ranged from $14.5 million at BoxOfficePro to $19.1 million at Hollywood Stock Exchange. The animated film features the voices of Demi Lovato and Rainn Wilson in a story about Smurfette and her friends in a race through the Forbidden Forest. Critics gave the movie just 35 percent positive reviews as of Friday, according to the website RottenTomatoes.com.

“Going in Style” collected $12.5 million for Time Warner Inc.'s Warner Bros. and New Line divisions, compared with estimates that ranged from $7.2 million to $11 million. The film features Morgan Freeman, Michael Caine and Alan Arkin in a tale about three lifelong pals who decide to knock over a bank after their pensions are canceled. It garnered 39 percent positive critics' reviews at RottenTomatoes.

“The Case for Christ,” from a distributor of Christian-themed movies, opened with sales of $3.9 million, compared with forecasts of $3.5 million to $4.3 million. Mike Vogel, Erika Christensen and Faye Dunaway star in the film about an investigative journalist who tries to disprove the existence of God.

To contact the reporter on this story: Rob Golum in Los Angeles at rgolum@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Crayton Harrison at tharrison5@bloomberg.net, Anne Riley Moffat, Kevin Miller