Bad Grandpa Knocks Gravity Off The Top Of The US Box Office

By Georgina Littlejohn On October 28, 2013

A comedy about a pensioner and his grandson has knocked George Clooney off the top of the US box office after Bad Grandpa stormed in this weekend.

The Jackass spin-off took in $32 million (£19.7 million) in its debut weekend, forcing Gravity, starring Clooney and Sandra Bullock, down to second place.

Bad Grandpa sees Jackass star Johnny Knoxville disguised as an 86-year-old man who travels across the US with his eight-year-old grandson playing tricks on people along the way.

Forecasters had expected the movie to debut with about $25 million (£15.4 million) so are delighted with the higher takings.

Johnny Knoxville's Bad Grandpa has knocked Gravity off the top of the US box office (WENN)

Don Harris, Paramount's president of theatrical distribution, said it was a "spectacular result" and that the movie was "playing much more like a regular comedy than like a 'Jackass' movie," with audiences comprised of more women and older moviegoers than the previous Jackass film.

He said: "The audience wasn't just a bunch of teenagers."

Science fiction thriller Gravity took in $20.3 million (£12.3 million) in its fourth week of release while Tom Hanks's new movie, Captain Phillips, fell one spot to No. 3 after bringing in $11.8 million (£7.2 million).

Ridley Scott's The Counselor only came in fourth place with a mere $8 million (£4.9 million) in its opening weekend, while animation Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2 held steady at No. 5 with $6.1 million (£3.2 million) in takings.

Sylvester Stallone's new movie Escape Plan took $4.3 million (£2.6 million) and 12 Years a Slave shot up eight spots to eighth place, bringing in $2.15 million (£1.5 million).

Tags :