LOS ANGELES, Nov. 8 (Xinhua) -- Focus Features' "Let Him Go" took the top spot at the North American box office with 4.1 million U.S. dollars from 2,454 locations in its opening weekend, according to studio figures collected by measurement firm Comscore.
Directed by Thomas Bezucha, based on the 2013 novel of the same name by Larry Watson, the Western thriller stars two-time Academy Award winner Kevin Costner and Diane Lane as a retired sheriff and his wife who leave their Montana ranch to rescue their young grandson from the clutches of a dangerous family living off the grid in the Dakotas, headed by matriarch Blanche Weboy.
Another Focus Features' film, "Come Play," also led ticket sales at the sleepy North American box office with 3.15 million U.S. dollars in its opening weekend last week. It's the first time in the history of the American film production and distribution company, owned by Comcast through Universal Pictures, to have two titles to open as the box office king in two consecutive weekends.
"There are moviegoers who want to go back to theaters. If you don't offer them a film, if you don't give people the opportunity to see a movie, you'll never know if they'll go back or not," Lisa Bunnell, president of distribution at Focus Features, was quoted as saying by online news site Deadline Hollywood.
Comscore noted that only around 48 percent of all North American Theaters are currently open amid the ongoing pandemic.
"Let Him Go" holds an approval rating of 75 percent based on 108 reviews to date on review-aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes.
"Come Play" moved to second place with 1.73 million dollars from 2,213 locations in its second weekend. The film has grossed 5.66 million dollars in North America through Sunday.
Directed by Jacob Chase and starring Azhy Robertson, Gillian Jacobs and John Gallagher Jr., the PG-13 Halloween offering follows the parents of Oliver, a lonely young boy with autism, as they must fight to save their son from a villainous humanoid creature that preys on the innocence of children.
"The War with Grandpa," the 101 Studios' family comedy film, came in third with 1.51 million dollars from 2,348 locations in its fifth weekend for a North American cume of 13.41 million dollars to date.
Directed by Tim Hill and based upon the novel of the same name by the late American children's book author Robert Kimmel Smith, the film stars two-time Academy Award winner Robert De Niro. The plot follows a sixth-grader who works to get his grandfather to move out of his room after he moves in with his family.
Open Road Films' action thriller "Honest Thief" landed in fourth with 1.12 million dollars from 2,217 locations in its fifth weekend for a North American cume of 11.16 million dollars.
Directed by Mark Williams and starring Liam Neeson in the title role, the film follows a former bank robber who turns himself into authorities to start a new life after falling in love with a woman, only to be double-crossed by two ruthless FBI agents who want to devour his fortune.
Warner Bros.' sci-fi action film "Tenet" finished fifth with 905,000 dollars from 1,412 locations in its eleventh weekend for a North American total of 55.1 million dollars.
The film took in an estimated 2.1 million dollars worldwide this weekend from 62 markets in release, pushing its global total to 350.8 million dollars to date. The Chinese mainland is one of the biggest theatrical territories for the film with a cume of 456 million yuan (around 68.97 million U.S. dollars) after more than two months, according to box office data compiled by Maoyan, a Chinese movie-ticketing and film data platform. Enditem
