'Angry Birds' knocks 'Captain America' off the top spot at the box office

YouTube / Screenshot

After two consecutive weeks of dominance at the US box office by Disney's "Captain America: Civil War," the latest Marvel hit was knocked off by an unlikely title, "Angry Birds."

In an impressive performance by the Sony title based on the popular app, the movie took in an estimated $39 million over the weekend, according to Exhibitor Relations.

"Captain America: Civil War" took in $33.1 million in a strong third week in theaters. The film has also passed the $1 billion worldwide gross mark.

What makes the "Angry Birds" win impressive is its rebound from the soft Thursday previews it had.

Taking in an okay $800,000 versus fellow new release "Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising," which earned $1.67 million in previews, "Birds" ended up making $10.9 million on Friday while "Neighbors 2" made just $8.8 million on its Friday, according to Deadline.

That shift in momentum set the stage for the dominance by "Birds" the rest of the weekend.

"Neighbors 2" ended up in third place with $21.8 million.

YouTube / ScreenshotIt turned out the hype around the sequel to the 2014 hit comedy starring Seth Rogen, Rose Byrne, and Zac Efron didn't turn into box office dollars as the movie will take in around 50% less its opening weekend than what the original did. A stat the film's studio, Universal, wasn't expecting.

However, Sony must be excited with a potential franchise for "Angry Birds." The movie had a 16% spike in sales from Friday to Saturday, as it took in $16.6 million on Saturday.

The movie showcased the memorable components that made the app so popular matched with celebrities voicing the characters, including Danny McBride, Jason Sudeikis, and Josh Gad.

The other big release of the weekend, "The Nice Guys," starring Ryan Gosling and Russell Crowe as bumbling private detectives, took in $11.27 million. Warner Bros. wasn't expecting the movie to do any major damage over the weekend, but they must be happy with it taking in this much as it's geared towards the over-30 crowd (who rarely come out in droves for the opening weekend of a movie).

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