In its fifth weekend, Pantelion Films’ Instructions Not Included has become the highest grossing Spanish-language release at the US box office on $38.6m.

The comedic drama remained in the top 10 in its fifth weekend as an estimated $3.4m from 948 theatres raised the running total to $38.6m and saw the film fall four places to number eight.

Eugenio Derbez’s film overtook the $37.6m set previously by Pan’s Labyrinth and also became the fourth biggest foreign-language release in the US behind Taiwan’s Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Italy’s Life Is Beautiful and China’s Hero.

Derbez stars as an Acapulco playboy who suddenly finds himself entrusted with a love child and sets out to Los Angeles to find the mother.

“We’ve been building our brand and our audience for three years, and we’re very pleased that our efforts have resulted in a record-breaking hit,” said Pantelion Films CEO Paul Presburger. 

“The film’s success reaffirms our belief that there is a large audience in the US with an appetite for commercial films with Latino characters and themes.”

Pantelion Films is a joint venture between Lionsgate and Latin media giant Grupo Televisa.

Upcoming Pantelion releases include the bilingual comedy Pulling Strings starring Jaime Camil and Omar Chaparro set to open this week.

Also on the roster are December 13 Paul Walker thriller The Hours and Diego Luna’s Chavez starring Michael Pena, John Malkovich, Rosario Dawson, Gabriel Mann and America Ferrera.

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