Haddish, Hart school the box office
Comedians win weekend’s top spot at theaters.
NEW YORK – For the first time in more than two years, a straight-up comedy is No. 1 at the box office.
Studio estimates Sunday say Kevin Hart and Tiffany Haddish’s “Night School” made its debut with $28 million in ticket sales.
The race for the weekend top spot was, in the end, a laugher. The animated release “Smallfoot” trailed in second with $23 million.
Not since Melissa McCarthy’s “The Boss” topped the box office in April 2016 has a comedy that didn’t mix other genre elements been No. 1.
The romantic comedy “Crazy Rich Asians” was a huge success and Tyler Perry’s two horror-comedies “Boo! A Madea Halloween” landed at the top.
But “Night School” is the rare recent comedy to lead all films based purely on the draw of its stars.
Rounding out the rest of the top five, according to comScore: Jack Black’s horror-for-kids movie “The House With a Clock in Its Walls“was third with $12.5 million, while the Anna Kendrick/Blake Lively mystery “A Simple Favor” slipped to fourth with $6.6 million. “The Conjuring” spinoff “The Nun” finished fifth with $5.4 million.
Final numbers are expected Monday.