US News

‘GI Joe’ wins box-office war

LOS ANGELES — “GI Joe: Retaliation” deployed to the top spot at the box office.

The sequel to 2009’s “GI Joe: Rise of Cobra” stars Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, Bruce Willis and Channing Tatum as the gun-toting military toys brought to life.

It opened Wednesday at midnight, which helped bring its domestic box-office total to $51.7 million.

After debuting in the top spot last weekend, the 3-D animated prehistoric comedy “The Croods” slipped to the No. 2 spot, with $26.5 million in its second weekend.

“Olympus Has Fallen” took the No. 4 spot, with $14 million, and “Oz the Great and Powerful” landed at No. 5, with $11.6 million.

Among the other new films this weekend, “Tyler Perry’s Temptation” opened above expectations at No. 3, with $22.3 million, while the sci-fi film “The Host,” adapted from the Stephenie Meyer novel, opened at No. 6 in its debut weekend, with a modest $11 million.