Will Smith’s con man caper, ‘‘Focus,’’ overtook ‘‘Fifty Shades of Grey’’ at the box office, but its modest $19.1 million opening still left questions about the drawing power of the once unstoppable star. According to studio estimates Sunday, Warner Bros.’ ‘‘Focus’’ easily led on a weekend with little competition at North American multiplexes. In second place was the Colin Firth spy thriller ‘‘Kingsman: The Secret Service,’’ which made $11.8 million in its third week of release. After two weeks on top, ‘‘Fifty Shades of Grey’’ landed in fourth with an estimated $10.9 million for Universal Pictures. ‘‘Fifty Shades,’’ which has made
$486.2 million globally, fell just behind Paramount’s ‘‘The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water,’’ which earned $11.2 million in its fourth week. The weekend’s only other new wide release, Relativity’s horror film ‘‘The Lazarus Effect,’’ opened in fifth place with $10.6 million. ‘‘Focus,’’ written and directed by the ‘‘Crazy, Stupid, Love’’ duo Glenn Ficarra and John Requa, is Smith’s first film since 2013’s ‘‘After Earth,’’ the sci-fi flop in which he costarred with his son, Jaden. ‘‘He can still draw an audience, particularly with a film that’s R-rated and not aimed at the young crowd,’’ said Paul Degarabedian, senior media analyst for box-office data firm Rentrak. Some of last Sunday’s Oscar winners saw slight bumps at the box office. Best-picture winner ‘‘Birdman (Or the Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)’’ added some 800 screens to bring in $2 million over the weekend, pushing its total past $40 million. ‘‘Still Alice,’’ for which Julianne Moore won best actress, added 553 screens and earned $2.7 million. It has now made $12 million for Sony Pictures Classics. ‘‘American Sniper,’’ far and away the biggest box-office hit of the best-picture nominees, was also easily the top post-Oscars draw. It added another $7.7 million, to bring its cumulative domestic gross to $331.1 million. Estimated ticket sales are for Friday through Sunday at US and Canadian theaters, according to Rentrak. (AP)
Gaga, Vaughn plunge
Lady Gaga and Vince Vaughn made plunges into the icy waters of Lake Michigan at a Chicago fund-raiser for Special Olympics. Polar Plunge spokeswoman Maura Bruton confirmed Sunday that Gaga did the plunge along with more than 4,500 other participants. Gaga recently announced her engagement to ‘‘Chicago Fire’’ actor Taylor Kinney. Photos from the Polar Plunge show her and a bare-chested Kinney going into the water for the 15th annual event. Vaughn, a Lake Forest, Ill., native, wore a Chicago Blackhawks jersey and jeans. He went in up to his knees, then eased backward into the water. Last year, Jimmy Fallon helped raise more than $1 million at the event, jumping in wearing a suit and tie. (AP)