Brad Pitt’s “Bullet Train” zoomed ahead of the competition.
The high-energy action comedy sped to a $30.1 million opening weekend in North America to lead all films.
Pitt stars in the movie as an unlucky assassin whose assignment to recover a briefcase from a Japanese locomotive becomes a life-or-death mission thanks to competing mercenaries on the train.
Joey King, Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Brian Tyree Henry also star in “Bullet Train,” as does Latin music superstar Bad Bunny in his feature film debut.
The R-rated Sony movie serves as a reunion for Pitt and his former stuntman David Leitch, who directed the movie. Leitch served as Pitt’s body double in popular films such as “Fight Club” and “Troy.”
It was the third time in as many weeks that the domestic box office featured a new champion, with Jordan Peele’s latest thriller, “Nope,” and the animated “DC League of Super-Pets” winning the previous two weekends.
“Super-Pets” fetched $11.2 million between Friday and Sunday to finish in second place. The family film about a team of superpowered animals led by Superman’s dog features a star-studded voice cast that includes Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and Kevin Hart.
“Nope” came in third place during its third weekend in theaters, adding $8.5 million to bring its overall earnings to $97 million. It’s the third movie written, directed and produced by Peele, who previously released “Get Out” and “Us.”
Daniel Kaluuya and Keke Palmer lead the “Nope” cast.
Finishing fourth was Marvel’s “Thor: Love and Thunder,” which made $7.6 million domestically over the weekend. It’s now made $316 million in North America, making it the biggest film in the “Thor” franchise.
Rounding out the top five with a $7.1 million weekend was the animated “Minions: The Rise of Gru,” which stars Steve Carell as the titular supervillain.
The year’s biggest blockbuster, “Top Gun: Maverick,” made another $7 million during its 10th weekend in theaters and has now made $662 million domestically, moving ahead of “Titanic” to become the seventh-highest-grossing movie ever in North America.
“Bullet Train” will look to defend its title next weekend, when none of the major studios have a wide release. Diane Keaton’s “Mack & Rita” and Lake Bell’s “Summering” are among the new films set to hit theaters Friday.
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