The Lego Movie, an animated film based on the colourful plastic children’s blocks, snapped up $69.1 million in ticket sales to top weekend box-office charts, easily beating the George Clooney World War II film The Monuments Men.
The Monuments Men, which also stars Matt Damon, Bill Murray and John Goodman, was second with $22.7 million in sales at US and Canadian theatres. The film is based on the true story of US soldiers who rescued art masterpieces from Nazi thieves.
After three consecutive weeks in the top spot, the Kevin Hart-Ice Cube comedy Ride Along took third with $9.4 million, according to data supplied by Rentrak.
The film won lavish praise from critics as inventive and funny
Led by the voices of Will Ferrell, Will Arnett and Morgan Freeman, The Lego Movie features toy mini-figures of Batman, a pirate and others in a Lego universe faced with destruction.
The film won lavish praise from critics as inventive and funny, with 112 of 118 critics giving it a “fresh” rating on the movie review site Rotten Tomatoes, and far surpassed average industry projections of an opening weekend around $50 million.
The Lego Movie was heavily marketed by Warner Brothers and The Lego Group, the Danish company that makes the popular snap-together blocks. The toy company released 17 building sets inspired by scenes from the film. McDonald’s released eight collectable holographic cups with its Happy Meals.
“It’s awesome,” said Dan Fellman, president of domestic distribution for Warner Brothers of the blockbuster opening, which was the biggest of 2014 thus far.
“We had a movie playing from five to 85,” he said. “Five-year-olds are enjoying it, their siblings are enjoying it, and their parents and grandparents are all enjoying it.”
The Monuments Men received mixed reviews from critics and was moved back from its original December 18 release date for additional post-production work and editing. The film, based on the book by Robert M. Edsel, was written and directed by Clooney.
The weekend’s only other major new release, Vampire Academy, based on the first book in the Vampire Academy series by fantasy author Richelle Mead, opened in the No. 7 spot with $4.1 million in sales, according to studio estimates.
Rounding out the top five, Disney’s musical Frozen took fourth place with $6.9 million, while That Awkward Moment was fifth, collecting $5.5 million in sales. Frozen has racked up $369 million since its November debut.