CLOSE Discover what made the Angry Birds so angry at the pigs in 'The Angry Birds Movie.' USA TODAY 
 
 Red (Jason Sudeikis) leads the charge against the pig invaders in "The Angry Birds Movie." (Photo: Rovio Animation) 
 
 Furious fowl ruled the roost at the weekend box office. 
 
 Moviegoers flocked to see The Angry Birds Movie, which took flight with $39 million and No. 1, according to studio estimates from comScore. The family comedy — an adaptation of the popular app game — scored the third-best animated debut of the year, behind Zootopia ($75.1 million) and Kung Fu Panda 3 ($41.3 million). It was enough to knock Captain America: Civil War from its perch, which fell to No. 2. 
 
 Budgeted at $73 million, Angry Birds features the voices of Jason Sudeikis, Sean Penn, Maya Rudolph, Danny McBride and Josh Gad. Despite ruffling a few feathers among critics (whose reviews were only 42% positive on RottenTomatoes), audiences embraced it slightly more (61% liked it). 
 
 "It's a rare bird," says Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst for comScore. "The video game aspect is drawing that audience that knows the brand, but then there's the crossover of family audiences who have really been drawn to PG-rated movies this year. This is a strong showing for the film," although the overall weekend box office is about 25% lower than it was this time last year, when Mad Max: Fury Road and Pitch Perfect 2 started on a high note. 
 
 Dropping to second place in its third week, Civil War muscled its way to $33.1 million, with a total of $347.4 million stateside and just over $1 billion worldwide. The superhero face-off starring Chris Evans and Robert Downey Jr. is now the seventh highest-grossing Marvel movie, performing slightly below last year's Avengers: Age of Ultron, which notched $372 million in its first three weeks and finished with $459 million in the USA. 
 
 Opening at No. 3, Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising brought down the house with a solid, if not spectacular, $21.8 million. The R-rated comedy reunites Seth Rogen and Rose Byrne as parents who team up with their former fratboy nemesis (Zac Efron) to take down hard-partying sorority sisters (led by Chloë Grace Moretz). With just OK reviews (61% positive), the film brought in less than half the business of its predecessor, which premiered with $49 million in May 2014 on its way to $150.2 million. 
 
 "That was going to be a hard act to follow, no matter what," Dergarabedian says. "R-rated comedies do so well in the summer because they're fresh and funny, but it's hard to replicate that. It's usually the original content from that genre that does well," calling to mind last year's Ted 2, which opened to nearly half ($33.5 million) of the 2012 original ($54.4 million). 
 
 Bringing up the rear, Shane Black's The Nice Guys was welcomed with a better-than-expected $11.3 million in fourth place. The 1970s noir comedy stars Ryan Gosling and Russell Crowe as mismatched detectives and has been embraced by critics (90% positive reviews) as well as moviegoers (84% liked it). Disney's live-action The Jungle Book rounded out the top five with $11 million in fifth, swinging to a wild $327.5 million since opening last month. 
 
 Final figures are expected Monday. 
 
 Read or Share this story: http://usat.ly/1TwgY4n ||||| Avengers assembled in full force at the box office this weekend. 
 
 “Avengers: Infinity War” took North America by storm, opening with $250 million in 4,474 theaters. While numbers could fluctuate before an official tally comes in on Monday, that would surpass “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” for the biggest domestic opening weekend of all time. “The Force Awakens” bowed with $248 million in 2015. 
 
 The superhero tentpole, which cost between $300 million and $400 million, opened worldwide with $630 million, making it the highest global opening weekend of all time, even without China debuting this weekend. 
 
 “It is an extraordinary weekend for the movie business and for the Marvel Cinematic Universe,” Dave Hollis, head of domestic distribution at Disney, said. “‘Infinity War’ was the culmination of 10 years of developing the universe and characters that people care about. Having them all come together in this was was what created a must-see moviegoing event.” 
 
 Prior to “Infinity War,” the original “Avengers” had the highest opening to date for a Marvel film, debuting with $207.4 million. Its sequel, “Age of Ultron,” launched with $191 million. The first movie earned $623 million in North America, while the second made $459 million. 
 
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 Joe and Anthony Russo directed from a script by Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely. “Infinity War” picks up two years after the events of “Captain America: Civil War” with the Avengers teaming up with the Guardians of the Galaxy to stop the evil Thanos (Josh Brolin) from inter-galactic dominance. 
 
 The heroic ensemble cast includes Robert Downey Jr.’s Iron Man, Chris Hemsworth’s Thor, Chris Evans’ Captain America, Scarlett Johansson’s Black Widow, Chadwick Boseman’s Black Panther, Chris Pratt’s Star Lord, Benedict Cumberbatch’s Doctor Strange, and Mark Ruffalo’s Hulk. 
 
 With no other films opening in wide release in the wake of “Infinity War,” Paramount Pictures’ “A Quiet Place” secured second place with $10.6 million in 3,565 locations. The thriller — directed by John Krasinski and co-starring Krasinski and Emily Blunt — continues its impressive run with a domestic total of $148 million in four weeks. Due to the film’s monster success, Paramount’s head Jim Gianopulos announced a sequel was in the works. 
 
 In third place, STX’s “I Feel Pretty” scored $8 million from 3,440 theaters in its second weekend. That brings the North American tally on Amy Schumer’s latest comedy to $29 million. Meanwhile, Dwayne Johnson’s “Rampage” dropped down to the fourth slot, earning $7.1 million in 3,508 locations. The Warner Bros. actioner has made $77.9 million domestically in its three weeks of release. 
 
 Rounding out the weekend is another Marvel title, “Black Panther.” In its 11th weekend, the tentpole made $4.6 million, bringing its domestic total to $688 million. Globally, “Black Panther” has collected $1.3 billion. With “Infinity War’s” massive debut, Marvel’s 19 titles have collectively grossed $15 billion worldwide. 
 
 “Infinity War” has ignited a spark in the box office. Prior to this weekend, the year to date box office was down 2.8%. After this weekend, the 2018 box office is up 3.2% compared to 2017, according to comScore. 
 
 “‘Avengers: Infinity War’ demonstrated yet another Marvel superhero power,” Paul Dergarabedian, an analyst at comScore, said. “The ability to reverse a downtrending box office year with a single knockout punch and literally change the box office fortunes of Hollywood almost overnight.” 
 
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– Captain America has found a worthy competitor in a bunch of flightless birds. The Angry Birds Movie soared to $39 million in its debut weekend, reports the AP, knocking Captain America: Civil War off its first-place perch, according to comScore estimates Sunday. This despite reviews that were lukewarm, reports USA Today, with a Rotten Tomatoes score of only 42% positive. Civil War earned an additional $33.1 million for a second-place spot, bringing its domestic total to $347.4 million. Even in its third weekend in theaters, the superhero proved mightier than a batch of new adult comedies, Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising and The Nice Guys, which took the third- and fourth-place spots. Neighbors 2 brought in $21.8 million in its debut weekend—less than half of the first film's $49 million opening in 2014. The '70s throwback buddy comedy, The Nice Guys, meanwhile, grossed $11.3 million.