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Even in its debut weekend, Kevin James's Paul Blart sequel couldn't outpace Furious 7.
The reigning box office champion might have slowed from its blockbuster debut, but Furious 7 maintained first place for the third weekend with an estimated $29.1 million, according to box-office tracker Rentrak on Sunday.
This brings the high-octane action movie's domestic total to a staggering $294 million, beating the $202.8 million that Fast & Furious 6 earned after three weeks in 2013.
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Poll position: Furious 7, starring the late Paul Walker, right, won the box office crown for the third week running, taking an estimated $29.1 million over the weekend
The film crossed the $1 billion mark on Friday, AP reported
'The film has set a new standard for the potential for box office in the pre-summer month of April and has truly become part of movie folklore with its record-setting numbers, strong reviews, spectacular word-of-mouth and, of course, the outpouring of support for late star Paul Walker,' Rentrak's senior media analyst Paul Dergarabedian said.
Walker was killed in a car crash in November 2013 before filming finished and his brother Cody filled in on some of the long shots for him.
Crashing hit: The blockbuster, also co-starring Vin Diesel and Jason Statham, has already earned $1 billion
Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2 came in second with an estimated $24 million.
While the PG-rated comedy didn't perform as well as the first film's $31.8 million opening in 2009, it beat Sony's modest expectations for the $30 million-budget movie.
'It's a great result. It's going to be very profitable for us and a big success,' said Rory Bruer, Sony's president of worldwide distribution.
'It was something that Kevin really wanted to do and we wanted to do it with him,' he said.
'Kudos to Kevin for working so hard in promoting the film.'
Dergarabedian said Blart's opening 'proves that if you give the people what they want, you can make a tidy profit.'
Unfriended, the low-budget, social media-themed thriller, took third place with $16 million — 16 times its production budget.
Running to catch up: Kevin James's Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2 came in at No. 2 with $24 million in its debut weekend
With Furious 7 topping the charts again and a strong debut for Unfriended, Nick Carpou, Universal's president of domestic distribution, marvelled how the two films were 'so successful at both ends of the spectrum.
'When you find success you look to repeat them,' he said of Universal's partnership with Blumhouse on microbudget horror films. 'It works.'
Unfriended is Blumhouse's 11th microbudget film to open above $15 million. Other successes include Ouija, The Boy Next Door and The Purge series.
Unfriended, the low-budget, social media-themed thriller, took third place with $16 million — 16 times its production budget
According to exit polls, audiences for Unfriended were 60 percent female and 74 percent under the age of 25.
Rounding out the top five were holdovers Home and The Longest Ride, with $10.3 million and $6.9 million, respectively.
Disney's animal film Monkey Kingdom debuted to $4.7 million to claim the seventh spot, in line with last year's Bears, also from Disneynature.
Saddling up: The Longest ride, starring Scott Eastwood and Britt Robertson, came in fifth with $6.9 million
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