LOS ANGELES, Jan. 22 (Xinhua) -- Universal's thriller film "Split" was on track to sell 40.2 million U.S. dollars in tickets this weekend to premiere in the number one spot at weekend box office in North America.
"Split"'s leading the weekend charge with a three-day opening made it to be the fourth largest January opening of all-time in America. It received a "B+" from first-night moviegoers on CinemaScore and 76 percent of approval rate from critics on RottenTomatoes. Among its audience, 52 percent were female and 52 percent were under age 25.
A Vin Diesel film, "xXx: The Return of Xander Cage" opened in second place, with a 20 million dollars from 3,651 theaters. This Paramount's film is the third one in the "xXx" franchise.
Carrying a budget of 85 million dollars, it received an "A-" CinemaScore from opening day audiences, of which 53 percent were male and 62 percent were over the age of 25.
In third is Fox's breakout release of "Hidden Figures," which brought in an estimated 16.25 million dollars this three-day weekend, making its gross in North America reach to 85 million dollars.
Universal's animated musical "Sing" got 9 million dollars this weekend, placing No. 4 spot in box office. Within 5 weeks, the 75 million budget "Sing" grossed over 249 million dollars in U.S. and Canada.
Lionsgate's "La La Land" brought in an estimated 8.35 million dollars from 1,865 theaters as its total revenue reaching 90 million dollars.
Rounding out the rest 10 most-popular movies this week were "Rogue One: A Star Wars Story" (7 million dollars), "Monster Trucks" (7 million), "Patriots Day" (6 million), "The Founder" (3.8 million) and "Sleepless" (3.7 million).