Fox’s number one debut gave beleaguered DreamWorks Animation chief Jeffrey Katzenberg some breathing room as the film posted the best opening for his studio in nearly three years.

Home’s confirmed $52.1m debut from 3,708 theatres comes on the back of a dismal run of form that forced Katzenberg to restructure the studio earlier this year, lay off around 500 staff and commit to a narrower focus of one original and one sequel a year.

Home recorded DreamWorks Animation’s best opening salvo since Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted grossed $60.3m in June 2012. The film features a voice cast of Rihanna, Steve Martin and Jennifer Lopez and is directed by Tim Johnson.

Warner Bros’ Will Ferrell and Kevin Hart comedy Get Hard arrived in second place on a solid $33.8m from 3,175 that delivered career-best R-rated edbuts for both stars, while last weekend’s champion Insurgent slipped 59% and two slots in its second session via Lionsgate on $21.5m for $85.9m.

Disney’s Cinderella rules the international box office this weekend and stands in fourth place in North America on $149.6m.

Another weekend highlight was It Follows, the buzzy horror film from David Robert Mitchell that RADiUS-TWC expanded in a calculated move in the third weekend.

The film stepped up from 32 theatres to 1,218 to occupy the widest footprint in RADiUS’s short history. Weekend box office of $3.8m produced a 1,005% climb as the film vaulted 14 places to number five and reached $4.5m.

Pierre Morel’s The Gunman starring Sean Penn fell 60% six places to number ten and grossed $2m from 2,816 sites for a highly disappointing $8.8m via Open Road after two sessions.

Overall box office for the top 12 produced $142.3m to climb 20.8% against last weekend and roughly 8% against the comparable session in 2014, when Noah opened top on $43.7m.

A24 opened Noah Baumbach’s Toronto 2014 world premiere While We’re Young starring Ben Stiller and Naomi Watts on $227,688 from four sites for a predictably high $56,922 average.

Magnolia Pictures opened Susanne Bier’s troubled Depression Era drama Serena starring Jennifer Lawrence and Bradley Cooper on $100,090 from 59 sites.

SPC opened the acclaimed Oscar-nominated documentary The Salt Of The Earth on $44,900 from four theatres. Magnolia released White God in two venues and Kornél Mundruczó’s Un Certain Regard winner grossed $16,139.

This week Universal’s Furious 7 roars into action around the world. Needless to say it will be the only wide release on the starting line.

Confirmed top 10 North America Mar 27-29 2015
Film (Dist) / Est wkd gross / Est total to date

1 (-) Home (Fox-DreamWorks Animation) Fox International $52.1m –

2 (-) Get Hard (Warner Bros) Warner Bros Pictures International $33.8m –

3 (1) The Divergent Series: Insurgent (Lionsgate-Summit) Lionsgate International $21.5m $85.9m

4 (2) Cinderella (Buena Vista) Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures International $17m $149.6m

5 (19) It Follows (RADiUS-TWC) Visit Films $3.8m $4.5m

6 (5) Kingsman: The Secret Service (Fox) Fox International $2.9m $119.3m

7 (6) Do You Believe? (Freestyle) PureFlix $2.3m $7.2m

8 (3) Run All Night (Warner Bros) Warner Bros Pictures International $2.18m $23.8m

9 (7) The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (Fox Searchlight) Fox International $2.12m $28.1m

10 (4) The Gunman (Open Road) StudioCanal $2.05m $8.8m

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