娱乐英语新闻:Superhero film "Thor" sequel continues to dominate North American box office

LOS ANGELES, Nov. 17 (Xinhua) -- American superhero film "Thor: The Dark World" remained atop the North American box office for the second weekend after its release across the United States on Nov.8, followed by "The Best Man Holiday," a comedy that debuted this weekend.

"Thor: the Dark World," the Disney's 3D sequel, took in 38.4 million U.S. dollars over the weekend, down 55 percent from the tickets revenue of its opening weekend when it grossed 86 million dollars.

The film, which cost Marvel Entertainment 170 million dollars to produce, has already taken in a respectable 147 million dollars in North America since it was debuted. "Thor" sequel is still on track to surpass the original film's gross of 181 million dollars in North America in 2011, according to estimates.

Meanwhile, the sequel has already earned more than its predecessor in international market. "The Dark World" has grossed 479.8 million dollars in tickets revenue worldwide in two weeks, far more than its predecessor's tickets income of 449 million dollars.

Universal Pictures' debut, "The Best Man Holiday," was ranked the second for reaping a tickets income of 30.6 million dollars in its first weekend of release at 2,024 theaters.

"The Best Man Holiday," which tells a story about a group of friends gathering for Christmas, is a sequel to 1999's "The Best Man", which grossed 9 million dollars on its opening weekend and earned a total of 34 million dollars. Both films were directed by Malcolm D. Lee, starring a number of the same actors, including Taye Diggs, Terrence Howard and Nia Long.

"The Best Man Holiday" received an A+ CinemaScore from first- night moviegoers and won more than 64 percent of critics, according to reviews aggregator Rotten Tomatoes. Women accounted for 75 percent of the audience and 87 percent were African Americans, said Universal reports.

The third place went to CBS Films' "Last Vegas," which earned 8. 9 million dollars in its third weekend, down 20 percent. The movie has now grossed 47 million dollars and became the second-highest grossing CBS Films release after The Woman in Black, which earned 54.3 million dollars in tickets revenue.

Rounding out the 10 most popular films in North America this weekend, as estimated by studios, were "Free Birds" (8.3 million dollars), "Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa" (7.7 million), "Gravity" (6.3 million), "Ender's Game" (6.2 million), "12 Years a Slave" (4. 7 million), "Captain Phillips" (4.5 million) and "About Time" (3.5 million).