'Ride Along' Puts Universal Pictures in the Driver's Seat with Record Weekend

Universal Pictures dominated the North American weekend box office charts with Ride Along grossing $48.6 million scoring the No. 1 spot and Lone Survivor, in its second weekend, placing No. 2 ($22.1 million).

This marks the third year in a row that Universal has been No. 1 on Martin Luther King weekend following the success of Mama in 2013 and Contraband in 2012.

Ride Along’s opening was the highest Martin Luther King weekend opening in history and the biggest three-day opening for the month of January. The film also scored one of the biggest three-day openings ever for an urban film or an African American action comedy.

Overseas, Despicable Me 2 enjoyed a strong hold in China, grossing $8.4 million this weekend with an 11-day total of $33.5M. Since its release in China, Despicable Me 2 has become the 4th highest grossing animated film of all time internationally. With a worldwide total of $954.1 million, Despicable Me 2 is the third-highest grossing animated film of all time worldwide behind Toy Story 3 ($1.1B) and The Lion King ($987.8M).

Meanwhile, The Wolf of Wall Street, which Universal is releasing in nine key European markets, grossed a terrific $21.8 million this weekend in the territories UPI is handling, for an overall total of $28.5 million. The film opened in five new territories and was No. 1 in all of them.