Efron date movie beats Hunger Games

The date-night movies Think Like A Man and The Lucky One have finally knocked The Hunger Games off its number one US box-office perch.

Think Like A Man, based on Steve Harvey's dating-advice best-seller, debuted as the top weekend draw with 33 million dollars, according to studio estimates.

That's almost double what studio executives had expected for the Sony Screen Gems ensemble movie, which features Michael Ealy, Taraji P Henson and Gabrielle Union.

The Warner Bros drama The Lucky One, starring Zac Efron in an adaptation of Nicholas Sparks' romance novel, opened at number two with 22.8 million dollars. It also came in above studio expectations going into the weekend.

Think Like a Man was produced for about 13 million dollars and took in nearly that much on its opening day Friday alone, with business getting even better on Saturday. Sony executives had figured the movie might pull in about 17 million for the whole weekend.

"It was a wild ride. It just got better and better as the night went on Friday. Then to be up so much on Saturday," said Rory Bruer, head of distribution at Sony.

Lionsgate's blockbuster The Hunger Games took in 14.5 million dollars, slipping to third-place after four weekends at number one. The film raised its domestic total to 356.9 million.

The Hunger Games added 13 million dollars overseas, where its total now stands at 215.8 million, for a worldwide haul of 573 million.

Disney's nature documentary Chimpanzee opened at number four with 10.2 million dollars.