"Hidden Figures", a story about a group of black female mathematicians who were the brains behind Apollo 11's flight to the Moon, is leading the US box office. The movie, which is based on a true story, has generated an estimated $20.5 million in the U.S. and Canada during the traditional three-day weekend.
The NASA drama, which stars Taraji P Henson (Katherine Goble Johnson), Octavia Spencer (Dorothy Vaughan) and Janelle Monáe (Mary Jackson), surpassed big budget films like budget action comedy "Monster Trucks" on seventh place, which only got an estimated $10.5 million on its opening weekend, and Jamie Foxx's kidnap thriller, "Sleepless", with only $8.46 million on eighth place, The Guardian reported.
"Hidden Figures" received positive reviews, and got an approval rating of 93% based on 138 reviews. The movie even got an average grade of A+ on CinemaScore on an A+ to F scale, one of fewer than 60 films in the history of the service to receive such a score.
Meanwhile, "La La Land" took $14.5 million on second place. Lionsgate's musical love story, which stars Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling, has expanded to more than 1,800 screens (including almost 148 IMAX screens) in its sixth week in release, Los Angeles Times said. This makes it one of Lionsgate's biggest grossing movies ever. The musical is expected to finish the four-day weekend with another $17.5 million in domestic receipts, which would bring its stateside total to more than $77 million.
"La La Land" is also critically acclaimed, having won seven Golden Globes, including Best Musical or Comedy Motion Picture, and is also expected to be a massive hit at this year's Oscars. The soundtrack for "La La Land" is on the second spot on the Billboard 200 chart. In the week ending January 12, La La Land leaped to the runner-up spot with 42,000 units, following The Weeknd's "Starboy" with 63,000 album units.
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