BOX OFFICE RISING AGAIN

The 2013 box office moved into plus territory versus 2012 over the weekend as the top ten films produced revenue that was nearly 17 percent higher than for the comparable weekend a year ago, when the third weekend of Argo led with $12.1 million and the debut of Cloud Atlas came in second with a disappointing 9.6 million. By contrast, this weekend’s top film, Paramount’s Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa, opened with $32.1 million, followed by the fourth weekend of Warner Bros.’ Gravity with $20.1 million. Sony’s Captain Phillips also had a solid third with with $11.6 million. But 20th Century Fox’s The Counselor fulfilled analysts’ predictions that it would flop as it debuted with just $7.8 million. Rounding out the top five was Sony’s Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2, which took in $6.3 million in its fifth weekend and pushed its gross past the $100-million mark to $100.8 million. Gravity came close to crossing the $200-million mark as it wound up with $199.6 million. For the year, revenue from all films stands at $8.70 billion versus 2012’s $8.64 billion, an increase of 0.7 percent.