`Ralph` tops weekend box office with $49.1m opening amidst hurricane Sandy wreck

Washington: The weekend box office remained undeterred by the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy as Disney’s ‘Wreck-It Ralph’ opened strongly with 49.1 million dollars and Robert Zemeckis’ ‘Flight’ soared to a 25-million-dollar debut.

Both the movies opened above expectations, capitalizing on East Coast audiences looking for distraction amid the recovery from the storm, Fox News reported. ‘Wreck-It Ralph’, a 3-D animated family film about a video game villain who tries to break free of his role, is the largest box-office opening ever for Walt Disney Animation, which has produced countless cartoon classics. Paramount’s ‘Flight’, which had a smaller opening — 1,884 theatres, or about half the number of ‘Wreck-It Ralph’ — might have been expected to be more harmed by Sandy, considering adult dramas generally depend heavily on the New York City market. Ben Affleck’s Iran hostage tale ‘Argo’ expanded to 2,774 theatres in its fourth week of release. The Warner Bros. film added 10.2 million dollars, bringing its cumulative gross to 75.9 million dollars — a healthy haul for a film expected to be in the thick of the Oscar hunt. The Universal kung fu flick ‘The Man with the Iron Fists’ opened with a debut of 8.2 million dollars. Overseas, the James Bond film ‘Skyfall’ continued to dominate. It took in 156 million dollars over the weekend bringing its international total to 287 million dollars. The film opens in North America on Friday. Top 10 movies at the weekend box office were: Wreck-It Ralph - 49.1 million dollars Flight - 25 million dollars Argo - 10.2 million dollars The Man With the Iron Fists - 10.2 million dollars Taken 2 - 6 million dollars Cloud Atlas - 5.3 million dollars Hotel Transylvania - 4.5 million dollars Paranormal Activity 4 - 4.3 million dollars Here Comes the Boom - 3.6 million dollars Silent Hill: Revelation - 3.3 million dollars ANI