'SpongeBob Squarepants' Movie Tops Box Office with $56 Million Opening [Get Tickets Here]

It seems that predictions for last weekend's box office was right - the sponge living in a pineapple under the sea managed to topple "American Sniper" off the top spot of the US Box Office.

According to Time Magazine, "The Spongebob Movie: Sponge Out of Water" earned a higher than the expected $35 million for the opening weekend, which left little to its competition, "Jupiter Ascending" and "Seventh Son," both of which, unfortunately are considered to be total flops.

As Variety noted, the science-fiction fanstasy film from Andy and Lana Wachowski starring Channing Tatum and Mila Kunis cost about $179 million to produce, but only managed to cough up $19 million at the box office.

However, the sci-fi film still did better than the action epic starring Julianne Moore and Jeff Bridges. "Seventh Son," which doled out $95 million for production, pulled a mere $7.1 million at the box office, making it a rough start for Legendary films.

American Sniper, despite being in its fourth week of release, still managed to earn more than "Jupiter Ascending" and "Seventh Son," as it still managed to rake in $24.2 million.

The Wall Street Journal reported that it is apparently easier to revive an old franchise than to attempt making new ones. "The Spongebob Movie," for instance dominated with the healthy $56 million, even though it made very little buzz until recently. The animated film, which also came with live-action sequences resonated more with the audiences as compared to the action flicks. Rob Moore, Vice Cahirman for Paramount, noted the young adults who grew up with the quirky character also came out to see the film, on top of families with young children who watched the daytime screenings.

As the Los Angeles Times predicted, nostalgia played a certain role to Spongebob's favor, but its February release even more so. The website noted that children's films released at around this time of year are bound to make good at the BO especially since it's the beginning of the kids' winter break from school. Last year's "The Lego Movie" for instance, made $69 million during its debut weekend.

The Wall Street Journal also noted that "Jupiter Ascending", which was originally set to be released last July but pushed to a later date (to allow for additional shooting and adjustments) proved the delay fatal. This is because the weekend was already claimed for "Seventh Son," and was viewed as a setup of a face-off of two less-than-stellar pictures.

What do you think about last weekend's box office results? Did Spongebob and the gang deserve the top spot? Get tickets here if you want to watch it in cinemas.