Box Office Update: Gravity Still Soaring

Alfonso Cuarón's  sci-fi buzz-worthy thriller "Gravity" starring Sandra Bullock and George Clooney stayed in orbit of #1 this weekend. The biopic that stars Tom Hanks as Captain Phillips does solid business to be sure. Danny Trejo's return in Machete Kills flops.

Pamela McClintock of THR:

Adults fueled another strong weekend at the North American box office as Warner Bros.' Gravity stayed at No. 1 with a record $44.3 million and Sony's Captain Phillips opened to a solid $26 million.

From director Alfonso Cuaron, Gravity raced past the $100 million domestically to end the weekend with total earnings of $123.4 million. Worldwide, the space epic -- starring Sandra Bullock and George Clooney -- has earned well north of $150 million.

Gravity slipped only 21 percent in its second weekend domestically -- the lowest decline in history for a film that opened over $55 million (The Incredibles was the previous record-holder at 29 percent). This doesn't count holiday weekends. It's also the lowest decline of the year to date for a movie playing in more than 2,000 theaters.

The movie continues to be a big draw in 3D (82 percent), with Imax theaters alone taking in a record $9 million over the weekend for total sales of $26.5 million.

The other big headline of the weekend was Paul Greengrass' Somali pirate pic Captain Phillips, which reverses a dry spell for Tom Hanks at the box office. The critically acclaimed film did better than expected after earning an A CinemaScore, eclipsing the $19.5 million earned a year ago by fellow adult drama Argo.

Captain Phillips, based on real events and costing $55 million to produce, is hoping to be an awards player.

Hanks' last several films have underperformed, particularly Cloud Atlas (2012) and Larry Crowne (2011).

After Captain Phillips, the weekend's only other new wide player was exploitation action film Machete Kills, from writer-director Robert Rodriguez. Machete Kills quickly fizzled, debuting to roughly $3.8 million.

With a cast led by Danny Trejo and Michelle Rodriguez, Machete Kills, receiving a B- CinemaScore, is the third film based on the fake trailers accompanying Grindhouse.

Next Up: Chloe Moretz goes to the prom as Carrie in the remake; Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger hatch an Escape Plan; Benedict Cumberbatch is WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange in the biopic The Fifth Estate