'Ride Along 2' dethrones 'Star Wars' at the box office

'The Revenant' came in second this weekend by racking up $29.5 million. 'Star Wars: The Force Awakens' fell to third after four weeks atop the charts.

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Quantrell D. Colbert/Universal Pictures via AP
Ice Cube, left, and Kevin Hart star in the film, "Ride Along 2," which opened in US theaters Friday.

Its long reign is over.

After four weeks atop box office charts, Disney's "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" has ceded first place to Universal's "Ride Along 2." The comedy sequel picked up a leading $34 million across 3,175 venues and $39.5 million over the four-day Martin Luther King weekend. The space opera slid to third place with $25.1 million for the three days and roughly $30 million for the four-day period. It has earned $851 million stateside and $1.86 billion globally.

Universal spent $40 million re-teaming Ice Cube and Kevin Hart. "Ride Along 2" finds the bickering police officers trying to bring a Miami drug ring to justice.

Fox's "The Revenant" was bolstered by its strong showing at the Oscar nominations on Thursday when the wilderness epic picked up a leading 12 nods, including ones for Best Picture and for the performances of stars Leonardo DiCaprio and Tom Hardy. The story of a fur trapper seeking revenge racked up $29.5 million over the three days.

Its domestic total stands at $87.7 million and it should pull in $34 million over the holiday. New Regency financed the ambitious film, which battled production delays, crew defections, and a budget that ballooned from $90 million to $135 million, to emerge as an awards season winner.

Paramount's "13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi" flirted with political controversy, drawing a rebuke from a CIA spokesman, while pulling off a solid $16 million opening over the three days. The $50 million production will do an estimated $19 million over the holiday. It screened at 2,389 locations.

Lionsgate's "Norm Of The North" pulled in $6.7 million from 2,411 locations. The animated film about a polar bear who is displaced from his Arctic home and makes his way to New York City, should do $8.8 million worth of business over the four-day span.

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