LOS ANGELES — Dwayne Johnson out-muscled the competition at domestic movie theatres as the earthquake epic San Andreas hauled in an estimated $53.2 million over the weekend.
Aloha, the critically maligned romantic comedy from director Cameron Crowe, opened in sixth place with $10 million.
READ MORE: What the critics are saying about San Andreas
The movie was dogged by controversy. Leaked emails from former Sony Pictures Entertainment co-chair Amy Pascal last year labeled the Aloha script “ridiculous.” Then, some Native Hawaiian groups opposed the title as misappropriating the concept of the word. An Asian American group criticized the use of a nearly all-white cast in a film shot in Hawaii, a heavily Asian island chain.
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A slew of critics slammed the movie – many calling it confusing, wondering if parts of it were missing, and saying it was Cameron’s worst film ever despite the all-star cast of Bradley Cooper, Emma Stone, and Canada’s Rachel McAdams.
Pitch Perfect 2 was No. 2 for the weekend with another $14.8 million, followed by the B.C.-shot Tomorrowland, which added $13.8 to its disappointing box office gross. Fourth and fifth place belonged to Mad Max: Fury Road ($13.6 million) and Avengers: Age of Ultron ($10.9 million).
The made-in-Toronto reboot Poltergeist was seventh with $7.8 million. The movie has grossed $46.6 million worldwide.
The rest of the top 10 was comprised of Far From the Madding Crowd, Hot Pursuit and Home.
For the year to date, box office revenues for theatres in the U.S. and Canada are up nearly 5 per cent at $4.26 billion, while attendance is up more than 4 per cent.
– with files by Global News
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