LOS ANGELES, Oct. 25 (Xinhua) -- Open Road Films' action thriller "Honest Thief" topped the weekend for the second week in a row in North America with 2.35 million U.S. dollars from 2,502 locations, according to studio figures collected by measurement firm Comscore.

It's the lowest-grossing chart-topping weekend gross since Alan J. Pakula's political thriller film "Rollover" which opened in 355 theaters on the weekend of Dec. 11, 1981, Forbes reported.

"Honest Thief" has grossed 7.5 million dollars to date after 10 days in North America.

Directed by Mark Williams and starring Liam Neeson in the title role, the film follows a former bank robber who turns himself into authorities to start a new life after falling in love with a woman, only to be double-crossed by two ruthless FBI agents who want to devour his fortune.

Comscore noted that only 49 percent of all North American theaters are currently open. Although movie theaters outside New York City were allowed to reopen in New York state at 25 percent capacity under state guidance starting Oct. 23, Los Angeles and some other major markets in the country remained closed due to the pandemic. There are worries of a resurgence of COVID-19 in the United States as the country hit a record high number of confirmed daily new cases on Friday.

Thanks to effective containment of COVID-19, China has reportedly surpassed the United States for the first time to be the world's biggest film box office. Movie ticket sales in China for 2020 climbed to 1.988 billion dollars on Oct. 18, surpassing North America's total of 1.937 billion dollars, the Hollywood Reporter reported, citing data from Artisan Gateway.

The gap is expected to widen considerably by year's end, according to the Hollywood Reporter, noting that the results "represent a historic sea change: North America has been the global box office's center of gravity since the dawn of the motion picture business." Enditem

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