‘Cradle’ sprints to No. 1

The pairing of a rap star and a martial arts heavyweight pushed “Cradle 2 the Grave” to the top of the box office.

The high-octane action-adventure film featuring rapper DMX as a gang leader and martial arts star Jet Li as a Taiwanese intelligence officer took in $17.1 million in its opening weekend, according to studio estimates Sunday.

“Cradle” follows DMX and Li as they form an unlikely alliance in a film that mixes stolen diamonds, kidnapping and a plot to distribute a deadly new weapon of war.

“That combination of rap and martial arts stars equals big box office pretty consistently,” said Paul Dergarabedian, president of box-office tracker Exhibitor Relations.

“Old School” aged well in its second weekend, holding onto second place with $13.9 million. The comedy stars “Saturday Night Live” alum Will Ferrell, Vince Vaughn and Luke Wilson as 30-something partyers who form a college fraternity.

“Daredevil,” Ben Affleck’s superhero adventure, dropped to third place with $11 million after two weeks in the No. 1 slot.

The romantic comedy “How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days,” with $10.1 million, and the musical “Chicago,” with $8.1 million, rounded out the top five.

“Chicago,” a front-runner for a best picture Oscar, crossed the $100-million mark over the weekend, making it the highest-grossing musical since “Grease” in 1978. It’s now earned $105.2 million in North American theaters.

The film’s director, Rob Marshall, won the Directors Guild of America award Saturday night; the DGA honor is considered a reliable indicator for the Oscars.

Serious films continued to struggle against lighter fare.

“The Life of David Gale,” starring Kevin Spacey as a capital-punishment opponent who lands on death row, earned $4.4 million, finishing in eighth place. The Civil War epic “Gods and Generals” earned $2.8 million to finish ninth.

The weekend’s top 12 films grossed an estimated $85.8 million. With just one major studio debut for the weekend, that was a drop of almost 10% from last weekend, when four big films opened in the top 10.

The weekend box office was up 4.6% from the same weekend last year.

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Box Office

Preliminary results based on studio projections.

*--* Movie 3-day gross Total (millions)

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*--* Cradle 2 the Grave $17.1 $17.1

Old School 13.9 37.2

Daredevil 11 84

How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days 10.1 77.5

Chicago 8.1 105.2

The Jungle Book 2 6.8 33.6

Shanghai Knights 4.8 50.7

The Life of David Gale 4.4 13.5

Gods and Generals 2.8 8.8

The Recruit 2.6 48 Source: Nielsen EDI Inc Los Angeles Times

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