THE BEST MAN HOLIDAY STUNS AT THE BOX OFFICE

Thor: The Dark World stayed at No. 1 in its second weekend at the North American box office, but Malcolm D. Lee’s comedy The Best Man Holiday came much closer than anyone expected to the hammer-wielding superhero in grossing $30.6 million to place No. 2.In another sensational showing for Disney and Marvel Studios, Thor 2 — returning Chris Hemsworth in the title role — fell 55 percent domestically to $38.4 million for a total of $150 million. Best Man Holiday sees Morris Chestnut, Taye Diggs, Regina Hall, Terrence Howard, Sanaa Lathan, Nia Long, Monica Calhoun and Melissa De Sousa reprising their roles. The first film, opening to $9 million in 1999, is credited with helping to usher in the era of aspirational African-American comedies.”Besides being a great movie, the marketing department did a great job of reaching out to the core audience,” said Universal distribution chief Nikki Rocco.Black films have been making strong gains at the North American box office, with Fruitvale Station, Lee Daniels’ The Butler and 12 Years a Slave all over-performing. Those movies — all dramas — are drawing a mixed audience, while Best Man Holiday is expected to play primarily to African-Americans, similar to Tyler Perry’s pics. The sequel took some amount of business away from Fox Searchlight’s 12 Years a Slave, which fell 30 percent to $4.6 million. The awards contender is still one of the biggest indie success stories of the year, grossing $24.9 million to date in North America. Universal spent a modest $17 million to make Best Man Holiday, which Lee produced with Sean Daniel. Did you go see it?