Universal Picture's "Lone Survivor," a military drama based on a 2005 Navy SEAL operation in Afghanistan starring Mark Wahlberg, Taylor Kitsch, Emile Hirsch, Ben Foster and Eric Bana, topped U.S. and Canadian theaters this past weekend, earning $38.5 million.
Lone Survivor's win jumpstarts 2014 for Universal, after a record-breaking 2013, driven by the success of its "Fast & Furious" and "Despicable Me" franchises.
"Lone Survivor" is based on the memoir of Navy SEAL Marcus Luttrell about a failed U.S. mission to track down an al-Qaeda leader. After a conflict with the Taliban, Luttrell was the only member of the team who returned.