“Non-Stop,” over the weekend leading into the Oscars, became the latest successful action movie starring Liam Neeson, taking in an estimated $30 million, for first place at the North American box office. Mr. Neeson, 61, improbably became one of Hollywood’s leading action stars with “Taken” in 2009 after a career largely spent in higher-brow movies like “Kinsey” and “Schindler’s List.”
“Non-Stop,” produced by a team led by Joel Silver, cost about $50 million to make and was financed independently. Universal Pictures paid $13 million for domestic distribution rights. Second place for the weekend went to “Son of God” (20th Century Fox), assembled from deleted scenes and re-edited footage from History Channel’s recent “Bible” miniseries. “Son of God” took in a stout $26.5 million, according to Rentrak, which compiles box office data. A still-strong “Lego Movie” (Warner Bros.) was third, with estimated ticket sales of $21 million, for a four-week total of $209.3 million.
