"Gravity" continued to soar at the U.S. box office as it won its third consecutive weekend.
The Alfonso Cuaron-directed film scored an estimated $31 million at the box office bringing its total gross to $170 million. The drop from the weekend before was only 28 percent while the average per theater gross was an outstanding $8,123. Box office analysts are now predicting the film could easily make $250-275 million by the end of its run.
"Gravity" also won the international box office making $33.5 million in 51 markets, with Mexico the standout. The film opened with $5.7 million making it the highest opening for any film in the country. Analysts predict the reason for the success was due to Cuaron's Mexican heritage.
The other Mexican entries, "Pulling Strings" and "Instructions Not Included," started to fade at the box office over the weekend. Jaime Camill's Mariachi-themed film pulled in $605,000 from 438 theaters bringing its total earnings to $5 million. Meanwhile, Eugenio Derbez's "Instructions Not Included" made an estimated $515,000 in 475 theaters and has now made $43.5 million.
The Colombian movie "The Snitch Cartel" opened in the U.S. but no box office returns were reported for the film.
The new releases for the week included "The Fifth Estate," which bombed both critically and financially. The movie only took in $1.7 million in 1,769 theaters.
Meanwhile, "Escape Plan" and "Carrie" also had a hard time with the holdovers. "Carrie" made $17 million, while "Escape Plan" made $9.8 million.
"Captain Phillips" continued its success at the box office making $17.3 million putting its total gross to $53.3 million. The Tom Hanks film now looks to surpass the $100 million mark. "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2" also continued its success making $10 million, bringing its total gross to $93 million. The film will likely cross the $100 million by Friday becoming 25th film of the year to cross the mark.