LOS ANGELES, Sept 30 (Xinhua) -- Universal's comedy "Night School" topped North American box office with an estimated 28 million U.S. dollars in its opening weekend, marking the biggest opening for a broad comedy so far this year.
Directed by Malcolm D. Lee and starring Kevin Hart and Tiffany Haddish, the film follows a group of young adults who set out to earn their General Equivalency Diplomas (GEDs). Lee is also the director of last years' box office hit "Girls Trip."
"Night School," which cost a reported 29 million dollars to make, enjoyed a "A-" rating from moviegoers on CinemaScore, but it received a generally negative reviews from critics with a mere 31 percent certified fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
Warner Bros.' animated film "Smallfoot" opened in a close second with an estimated 23.02 million dollars this weekend, according to studio figures collected by comScore.
Directed by Karey Kirkpatrick, the film features the voices of James Corden, Channing Tatum and Danny DeVito among others. The film, loosely based on the book "Yeti Tracks" by Sergio Pablos, follows a group of Himalayan Yeti who come across a human, with each species thinking the other was just a myth.
Universal's fantasy comedy film "House With A Clock In Its Walls" came in third with an estimated 12.51 million dollars in its second weekend. The film has earned 44.76 million dollars in North America through Sunday.
The film, based on the kids book of the same name by John Bellairs, is directed by Eli Roth and stars Jack Black, Cate Blanchett and Owen Vaccaro among others. The plot follows a 10-year-old orphan who goes to live with his uncle in a creaky old house, which is haunted by the original owner's ghost, who's about to end the world with a clock he had made and hidden within the house before his death.
Lionsgate's mystery drama film "A Simple Favor" landed in fourth with an estimated 6.6 million dollars in its third weekend for a North American total of 43.06 million dollars. Based on the 2017 novel of the same name and directed by Paul Feig, the film follows a small-town blogger who tries to uncover the truth behind the disappearance of her best friend.
Warner Bros. and New Line's supernatural horror film "The Nun" finished fifth with an estimated 5.43 million dollars in its fourth weekend for a North American total of 109.01 million dollars. It is the fifth installment in "The Conjuring" film Universe. The plot follows a priest with a haunted past and a novice on the threshold of her final vows investigate the death of a young nun in Romania and confront a malevolent force in the form of a demonic nun.
"The second highest grossing month of September overall in box office history comes to an end as the industry looks to a potentially monumental October at the box office as the Year-to-date (YTD) continues to enjoy a solid advantage over last year at this point," wrote movie analyst Paul Dergarabedian at comScore in an email to Xinhua.
