DHAKA: ‘Captain America: The Winter Soldier’ earned $96m in its opening weekend in the US, claiming the top spot and a new record.

The sequel to the 2011 original film about the Marvel superhero, starring Chris Evans, toppled biblical epic ‘Noah’, which stars Russell Crowe.

Its takings exceeded the record set in 2011 by the racing movie ‘Fast Five’, which collected $86.2m in ticket sales.

The top three was rounded off by dystopian action thriller ‘Divergent’.

The film, starring Shailene Woodley and Kate Winslet has earned a total of $114m since its release in the US on 21 March.

‘Noah’s $17m over the weekend, add to its current US tally of $72m.

But internationally the film, a big budget CGI-packed take on the story of ‘Noah’ and the ark, has continued to be a controversial subject, with Malaysia and Indonesia reportedly the latest countries to ban the film.

The UAE, Qatar and Bahrain are among Middle Eastern countries which have also banned the epic as it breaks Islam’s taboo of depicting a prophet.

Top Five

1. Captain America: The Winter Soldier - $96m
2. Noah - $17m
3. Divergent - $13m
4. God’s Not Dead - $7.7m
5. The Grand Budapest Hotel - $6.3m

BDST: 1939 HRS, APR 07, 2014