The disaster movie "San Andreas" starring Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson managed to rock the weekend box office in its debut, even beating "Pitch Perfect 2," despite the scientific errors of the disaster film pointed out by critics and experts.
In its debut in the United States, "San Andreas" earned an estimated $53.2 million, which is almost $13 million more than the expected earnings expected by most of the box office analysts.
With $14.4 million earnings, "Pitch Perfect 2" is at number two. Directed by Elizabeth Banks, the film sequel stars Rebel Wilson, Anna Kendrick, Adam DeVine, Hailee Steinfeld, Brittany Snow, Katey Sagal, and Anna Camp, among others.
"After the weak debut of 'Tomorrowland' last weekend, the market was definitely wide open for a breakout," Box Office chief box office analyst Phil Contrino said referring to Brad Bird's action mystery film starring George Clooney and Britt Robertson.
"Tomorrowland" earned $13.8 million during the previous weekend box office reaching the third spot. At number four is "Mad Max: Fury Road" with $13.6 million followed by "Avengers: Age Of Ultron" at number five with $10.9 million.
Sony's "Aloha" directed by Cameron Crowe starring Bradley Cooper and Emma Stone only managed to earn $10 million grabbing the sixth rank. Like "San Andreas," 'Aloha" was also slammed by critics but for another reason.
"Aloha" was criticized for having Stone, a white actress, playing an Asian American character named Allison Ng. On the other hand, "San Andreas" was criticized for its scientific errors. According to experts, the tsunami and the earthquakes portrayed are likely to happen in real life but not in the particular areas where they took place in the movie.
Still, "San Andreas" is not only the top grossing film during the recent weekend box office but also the biggest opening of Johnson's career for a movie in which he played the leading role. But with the criticisms, it only got a weak 49 percent critical approval on Rotten Tomatoes.