Summary 'Sully' stayed atop the North American box office this weekend.
LOS ANGELES (AFP) - "Sully," the story of a real-life pilot who landed his disabled jetliner on New York s Hudson River, stayed atop the North American box office this weekend, industry estimates showed Sunday.
The film, which debuted in the top spot a week ago, soundly defeated challenges from three new films to keep the number-one rank with a take of $22 million, according to box-office tracker Exhibitor Relations.
Tom Hanks plays Chesley Sullenberger, a US Airways pilot who was hailed as a national hero in January 2009 after managing to save the lives of 155 passengers and crew in the emergency water landing.
The Clint Eastwood-directed film has piled up a whopping $70.5 million at the box office in its first two weeks.
Three newcomers trailed far behind "Sully."
Horror flick "Blair Witch," a follow-up of the 1999 "The Blair Witch Project," opened in second place at the box office at $9.7 million.
Third place went to "Bridget Jones s Baby" at $8.2 million. Renee Zellweger reprises her single-woman role in the "Bridget Jones" romantic-comedy saga, this time finding herself pregnant and unsure who is the father.
"Snowden," director Oliver Stone s film about Edward Snowden, the US intelligence contractor who leaked thousands of classified documents to journalists, opened in fourth place at $8.02 million
Suspense thriller "Don t Breathe" slipped from third to fifth place, taking in $5.60 million. It opened four weeks ago at the top of the box office.
