‘Captain America’ edges out ‘Rio 2’ to retain top box-office spot

In a battle of the sequels, “Captain America: The Winter Soldier� retained its superhero grip at the weekend box office, finishing No. 1 and beating the animated “Rio 2� by a slim margin.

“Captain America� grossed a studio-estimated $41.4 million in its second weekend, down 56% from its $95-million opening. The Marvel superhero movie, released by Disney, has a domestic haul so far of $159 million.

The 3-D sequel is already close to matching the total $176.7-million domestic take of 2011’s “Captain America: The First Avenger.�

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Fox’s “Rio 2� drew $39 million in its opening weekend, virtually the same amount that the first “Rio� collected when it opened in spring 2011.

The ornithologically themed sequel fell just shy of projections that it would gross $40 million to $45 million this weekend. “We had a terrific Friday followed by a much softer-than-expected Saturday,� said Chris Aronson, president of domestic distribution at Fox.

He said viewers reacted positively to the movie, with an audience score of “A� from survey firm Cinemascore. Fox expects the movie to perform strongly during the upcoming spring holidays, when many students are off from school.

The 3-D animated movie featuring the voices of Jesse Eisenberg and Anne Hathaway had already opened in many foreign markets before bowing in the U.S.

The low-budget horror movie “Oculus� premiered at $12 million to take the No. 3 spot. The Relativity release had an estimated production budget of just $5 million. It received an audience grade of “C� from Cinemascore.

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“Draft Day,� starring Kevin Costner, finished in fourth place with an estimated $9.8 million in its opening weekend. The Ivan Reitman-directed movie follows the general manager of the Cleveland Browns as he juggles the NFL draft and a series of personal crises.

The Lionsgate release is the fourth Costner movie to open in the last 12 months as the Oscar winner attempts a comeback after a period of box-office disappointments.

In its fourth weekend, “Divergent� saw its weekend box office fall 42% to $7.5 million, bringing its cumulative domestic haul to $124.9 million.

Paramount’s “Noah,� the Old Testament-inspired epic starring Russell Crowe, dropped from the No. 2 spot last weekend to No. 6 with $7.5 million. The Darren Aronofsky movie has so far grossed $84.9 million domestically.

“God’s Not Dead,� another faith-based movie, earned $5.5 million over the weekend, bringing its total to $40.7 million. The drama was made for an estimated $2 million.

Wes Anderson’s “The Grand Budapest Hotel� grossed $4.1 million, taking its cumulative domestic gross to just under $40 million. Disney’s “Muppets Most Wanted� brought in $2.2 million over the weekend.

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