‘Gravity’ zooms to the top

LOS ANGELES—Space disaster movie “Gravity” continued its meteoric path at the top of North America’s box office in its second weekend, earning $44.3 million, industry estimates showed Sunday.

The film, directed by Oscar-nominated Alfonso Cuarón and starring Oscar winners Sandra Bullock and George Clooney as beleaguered astronauts, is already garnering Oscar buzz.

The film’s debut earnings of $55.8million were the biggest ever for a film released in October, traditionally a slow month. It remained ahead of new release “Captain Phillips,” which earned $26 million, according to industry tracker Exhibitor Relations.

Dropping to third place in its third week, animated sequel “Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs 2” took in $14.2million.

Another new release opened in the fourth slot, the action flick “Machete Kills,” which took in $3.8million.

Not far behind in fifth place was crime drama “Runner Runner,” which earned just over $3.7million.

Just a hair behind in sixth place was crime thriller “Prisoners” ($3.7 million); seventh was the horror sequel “Insidious: Chapter 2” ($2.7million); eighth was the Chris Hemsworth-starrer “Rush” ($2.4 million); ninth was the rom-com “Don Jon” ($2.3 million); and rounding out the Top 10 was the comedy “Baggage Claim.” ($2.1million).