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Focus on the Box Office

There was a time that someone could’ve filmed Will Smith eating breakfast, put the footage in theaters and made a cool $100 mil. And while Smith’s star has dimmed a bit since, the guy can still help carry a movie to No. 1.

Granted, Smith’s caper flick Focus earned just an estimated $19.1 million—not exactly Men in Black or Independence Day numbers. still, it was enough to supplant a bevy of holdovers and claim the Box Office crown for its very own.

Focus‘ success spelled disappointment for Kingsman: The Secret Service. The crass spy comedy had loitered behind Fifty Shades of Grey for the last two weekends, biding its time while waiting for the latter’s inevitable tumble. But when Fifty Shades did fall off its lofty perch (more on that in a moment), Kingsman was in no position to capitalize. It remained No. 2 for the third straight week with $11.8 million. The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water also found itself in familiar third place, earning another $11.2 mil.

Fifty Shades of Grey, last week’s champ, tumbled all the way down to fourth place with $10.9 million. That said, it’s still the highest-grossing film of 2015, having earned about $147.8 million domestically.

The Lazarus Effect, a PG-13 fright flick which, I’m guessing, two of you saw, rounded out the Top Five with a $10.6 million weekend.

Oh, and for the true box office geeks out there, American Sniper finished seventh with $7.7 million. Why is this significant? The weekend brings its total North American haul to $331.1 million—which ranks third amongst movies released in 2014. It trails No. 2 Guardians of the Galaxy by just $1.1 million and The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1 by $5.6 million, which means that, by this time next week, Sniper might be the biggest movie of 2014. Odd, considering that it made almost all of its cash in 2015, but hey, I don’t make the rules. I just report ’em.

Final figures update: 1. Focus, $18.7 million; 2. Kingsman: The Secret Service, $11.9 million; 3. The SpongeBob Movie: Out of Water, $10.8 million; 4. Fifty Shades of Grey, $10.6 million; 5. The Lazarus Effect, $10.2 million.