'Furious 7' tops box office, racing past $1 bn in global sales

The car racing action flick "Furious 7" topped the North American box office for a third week in a row, earning a whopping $1.2 billion in worldwide ticket sales, industry figures showed. A strong weekend showing of $29.2 million in the United States and Canada gave the hit blockbuster a $294.5 million haul in the region since its release, according to industry tracker Exhibitor Relations. It surged past the $1 billion mark in global sales, earning $250 million in China alone during an eight-day period. Slapstick comedy "Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2", starring Kevin James as a hapless scooter-driving security guard, debuted in the second spot with $23.8 million. Another newcomer, social media horror flick "Unfriended", took third on the charts with $15.8 million. The animated children's film "Home" about an unpopular space alien forced to flee his own kind, earned fourth place with $10.6 million. The film, featuring the voices of celebrities Rihanna and Jennifer Lopez, has brought in $142.9 million overall. The romance novel adaptation "The Longest Ride" starring Scott Eastwood, the son of actor-director Clint Eastwood, brought in $7 million for the fifth spot. The Will Ferrell and Kevin Hart buddy comedy "Get Hard" about a prison-bound investment banker and car washer took in $4.9 million for the sixth spot on the chart. In seventh place with $4.6 million was "Woman in Gold", the true story of a Holocaust survivor trying to get back her Nazi-looted artwork from Austria. New nature documentary "Monkey Kingdom", narrated by actress Tina Fey, made its debut in eighth with $4.6 million. Action-packed "Insurgent", the second film based on Veronica Roth's best-selling "Divergent" book series, came in ninth place, adding $4.1 million for $120.6 million after five weeks on the charts. The live-action reboot of "Cinderella" took 10th place, with $4 million in ticket sales. The Disney film has been on the charts for six weeks, bringing in a total of $186.5 million.