GRAVITY Rises to $44.2 Million at Weekend Box Office; CAPTAIN PHILLIPS Takes Second with $26M, MACHETE KILLS D.O.A.

By: Oct. 13, 2013
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Alfonso Cuaron's 3D space thriller GRAVITY, starring Sandra Bullock and George Clooney, held strong this weekend, keeping the number one spot with $44.2 million. Since opening last weekend, the space epic has earned $123.4 million domestically, becoming one of October's highest-grossing films ever.

Bullock plays Dr. Ryan Stone, a brilliant medical engineer on her first shuttle mission, with veteran astronaut Matt Kowalsky (Clooney) in command of his last Flight before retiring. But on a seemingly routine spacewalk, disaster strikes. The shuttle is destroyed, leaving Stone and Kowalsky completely alone-tethered to nothing but each other and spiraling out into the blackness. The deafening silence tells them they have lost any link to Earth...and any chance for rescue. As fear turns to panic, every gulp of air eats away at what little oxygen is left.

Real-life pirate tale CAPTAIN PHILLIPS, starring Tom Hanks, came in second place in its debut weekend, with $26 million - right in line with Sony/Columbia Pictures' initial projections.

Directed by Paul Greengrass, CAPTAIN PHILLIPS is a multi-layered examination of the 2009 hijacking of the U.S. container ship Maersk Alabama by a crew of Somali pirates. The film focuses on the relationship between the Alabama's commanding officer, Captain Richard Phillips (two time Academy Award-winner Hanks), and the Somali pirate captain, Muse (Barkhad Abdi), who takes him hostage.

Sony's CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF MEATBALLS 2 rounded out the top three, taking in additional $14.2 million, bumping its domestic gross to $78 million.

Robert Rodriguez's star-studded MACHETE KILLS proved dull at the weekend box office - taking in a meager $3.79 million. In fifth was the Ben Affleck and Justin Timberlake thriller RUNNER RUNNER with $3.72 million - raising its two-week total to just over $14 million.

Rentrak announced the top 10 box office earners for the weekend of Oct. 11-13. Check them out below!

1 Gravity Warner Bros. $44,265,000 $123,399,919
2 Captain Phillips Sony $26,000,000 $26,000,000
3 Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs 2 Sony $14,200,000 $78,036,677
4 Machete Kills Open Road $3,797,000 $3,797,000
5 Runner Runner 20th Century Fox $3,725,000 $14,113,958
6 Prisoners Warner Bros. $3,665,000 $53,619,879
7 Insidious Chapter 2 FilmDistrict $2,650,000 $78,447,017
8 Rush Universal $2,364,300 $22,201,569
9 Don Jon Relativity Media $2,340,000 $20,141,150
10 Baggage Claim Fox Searchlight $2,075,000 $18,272,478


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