RIDE ALONG RIDES TO VICTORY ON MLK HOLIDAY

Four movies made their debut on what is usually a lackluster Martin Luther King Jr. holiday weekend, and two of them performed well above initial forecasts, while the other two performed at the low end of them. Universal’s Ride Along opened with $48.6 million for the four-day holiday, a remarkable achievement given generally poor reviews. The movie, which had cost $25 million to produce, took in twice what box office pundits had predicted. In second place was the same studio’s Lone Survivor, which went wide last week and also surprised analysts by earning twice what they had predicted it would. In its second weekend, it slipped just 30 percent to $25.9 million. The movie, which cost $40 million to make, has now earned $76.7 million after two weekends in limited release and two more in wide release. With a dearth of family fare, the poorly reviewed The Nut Job accomplished its assignment admirably, raking in $25.7 million over the holiday. But Paramount’s Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit was overshadowed by the other top three on the list and debuted with just $18 million. And despite having been in wide release for two months, Frozen continued to pile up receipts, earning $16.1 million for the weekend. Its total gross now stands at $336.7 million. Sony’s American Hustle returned to theaters over the weekend following numerous awards and/or nominations. It brought in about $11.8 million, to bring its total gross to $117.6 million. In seventh place was the found-footage horror flick Devil’s Due from 20th Century Fox, which scared up just $9.1 million. Rounding out the top ten were The Weinstein Co.’s August: Osage County with $8.4 million in eighth place; The Wolf of Wall Street, with $8.1 million for ninth, and Saving Mr. Banks, with $4.9 million for tenth.