(MENAFN- The Peninsula) Nothing, it seems, and certainly not Blake Lively, can get Furious 7 to slam on the brakes. The mega-grossing sequel took the top spot at the weekend box office with $18.2m, becoming the first film to come in first for four consecutive weekends since The Hunger Games in March of 2012. Furious 7 is one of only 29 films to pull off the feat. Its winning streak will almost certainly draw to a close next weekend when Avengers: Age of Ultron enjoys what most analysts project will be an opening of more than $200m. Domestically, Furious 7 has earned $320.5m.
Although it could not elbow Furious 7 from its perch atop the box office chart, Lively's fantasy romance Age of Adaline scored a respectable $13.4m from 2,991 locations. The Lionsgate/Lakeshore release had been projected to pull in $12m and cost $30m to produce. The two partners split the costs and any profits evenly between themselves.
Reviews for Age of Adaline were mixed, but the picture still managed to secure a third-place finish primarily by appealing to females, who comprised 75 percent of the opening weekend crowd. Fifty eight percent of ticket buyers were over 25. The film co-stars Ellen Burstyn and Harrison Ford in the story of a woman who suffers an accident that keeps her perpetually 29 years old.
Richie Fay, Lionsgate's distribution chief, said it was difficult to make comparisons with another film, but likened Age of Adaline's holdover potential but likened its durability to Letter to Juliet, which opened to similar numbers in 2010 before banking $53m.
"Our audience will remain loyal to the film," said Fay. "The great news is that movies play to female audiences, particularly older female audiences, hang around in the marketplace for a long time."
Despite pot shots from Seth MacFarlane and critics, Sony's Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2 held up better than many analysts projected, finishing second in its sophomore weekend with around $15.5m. The comedy has earned a solid $44m though Sunday, topping its $30m production budget.
"It's such a sweet hold when you only drop 35 percent on a film in its second week," said Rory Bruer, Sony's distribution chief.
"It shows the mettle of the picture. Families and young teens are really really embracing the movie."
Animated hit Home scored fourth place with $8.4m pushing its haul to $153.8m, while Unfriended rounded out the top five with a $6.2m finish, driving its stateside total to $25.2m.
Ex Machina solidified its place among the year's biggest specialty hits, expanding from 39 to 1,255 screens and earning $5.4m in the process. The A24 release has made $6.9m in three weeks and is sixth.
Among new releases, Open Road's Little Boy pulled in $2.8m from 1,045 locations, while Russell Crowe's directorial debut The Water Diviner bowed to $1.2m from 320 theatres. Warner Bros is distributing The Water Diviner and doesn't plan to expand the theater count beyond its current number for the foreseeable future.
"This was always supposed to be a small niche film, so our plan is to just go slowly," said Jeff Goldstein, Warner Bros distribution executive vice president.
The romance novel adaptation The Longest Ride starring Scott Eastwood, the son of actor-director Clint Eastwood, brought in $4.4m for the seventh spot.
The Will Ferrell and Kevin Hart buddy comedy Get Hard about a prison-bound investment banker and car washer took in $3.9m for eighth place.
Nature documentary Monkey Kingdom, narrated by actress Tina Fey, earned $3.6m in its second week of release.
Rounding out the top 10 was Woman in Gold, the true story of a Holocaust survivor trying to get back her Nazi-looted artwork from Austria. It earned $3.5m.
Next weekend, all of these films will be overshadowed by the return of Earth's Mightiest Heroes, when Avengers:Age of Ultron debuts and kicks the summer box office off on a highnote.
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