‘Obsessed’ Tops Strong Weekend at Box Office

Hollywood wrapped up what is usually an off-season at the box office with another strong weekend, as “Obsessed,” a thriller from Sony Pictures’ Screen Gems division, took in $28.5 million to place No. 1, according to an estimate from Sony. The film stars Ali Larter (above left) as an office temp with an unhealthy fixation on an investment banker (Idris Elba, above right), whose wife is played by Beyoncé Knowles. The Top 10 films recorded about $101 million in ticket sales, up about 33 percent from the same period last year, according to the Screenline reporting service. In second place was “17 Again,” from Warner Brothers and its New Line Cinema unit. That movie, starring Zac Efron as an adult who is transformed back into a teenager, made about $11.7 million, a drop of about 50 percent from last weekend, when it was No. 1, according to Warner Brothers. “Fighting,” from Rogue Pictures, was third with about $11.4 million; “The Soloist” from DreamWorks and Paramount was fourth, with about $9.7 million; and “Earth,” the first release from the Walt Disney Company’s Disneynature unit, was fifth, with about $8.6 million. The season’s strong performance by relatively low-budget comedies, thrillers and horror films has raised hope of a continued boom when the blockbuster season begins Friday with the release of “X-Men Origins: Wolverine” from 20th Century Fox.