‘Ralph Breaks the Internet’ tops North American box office again

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Disney's blockbuster "Ralph Breaks the Internet" continued to lead North American box office with an estimated 16.14 million U.S. dollars for the third weekend in a row.

The movie lacked competition as there was no new wide release in North America as major Hollywood studios are aiming at the Christmas crush. A series of new notable openers will, however, join the Christmas season race in coming weekends, such as "Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse," "Aquaman," and "Bumblebee."

"As the Industry hits the home stretch of an amazing box office year, this weekend is a tale of the holdovers," wrote movie analyst Paul Dergarabedian at comScore in an email to Xinhua. There was no change at the top five of the box office at the weekend.

A still from the film "Ralph Breaks the Internet". /Photo via Douban.com

"Ralph Breaks the Internet" has earned a massive 140.9 million dollars through Sunday in North America since it opened over Thanksgiving for a global total of 258.2 million dollars, according to the studio figures collected by comScore.

The animated comedy film is the sequel to the 2012's "Wreck-It Ralph." Directed by Rich Moore and Phil Johnston, the film features the voice of John C. Reilly as Ralph. The plot follows video game bad guy Ralph and fellow misfit Vanellope von Schweetz who navigate the vast and dynamic world wide web in search of a replacement part to save Vanellope's game, Sugar Rush.

The animation, released in China on November 23, has got a gross box office of only 250 million yuan (36.3 million U.S. dollars), despite a high rating of 8.1 points on rating website Douban.

On the contrary, “Aquaman” which is launched in the Chinese mainland over the past weekend, has already garnered a massive 659 million yuan (94.5 million U.S. dollars). Many expected that its box office would exceed 1.6 billion yuan (230 million U.S. dollars) in China.

A still from "Aquaman". /Photo via Douban.com

Universal and Illumination Entertainment's holiday tale "Dr. Seuss' The Grinch" came in second again in its fifth weekend with an estimated 15.17 million dollars, pushing its North American total to 223.46 million dollars.

Based on the 1957 Dr. Seuss book with the title "How the Grinch Stole Christmas," the animated remake is the third screen adaptation of the story. Directed by Yarrow Cheney and Scott Mosier, the film features the voice of English actor Benedict Cumberbatch as the Grinch. The plot follows the Grinch as he plans to ruin Christmas holiday in Whoville by stealing all the town's decorations and gifts.

In third place, MGM's sports drama film "Creed II" took in an estimated 10.32 million dollars in its third weekend for a North American total of 96.47 million dollars. The film is the follow up to the 2015's "Creed."

Directed by Steven Caple Jr, "Creed II" stars Michael B. Jordan, Sylvester Stallone and Tessa Thompson among others. The plot follows a U.S. light heavyweight contender Adonis Creed who faces off against a powerful adversary, Viktor Drago, son of Russian boxer Ivan Drago. Ivan killed Adonis' father Apollo Creed in a tragic match many years before.

Source(s): Xinhua News Agency