The film, "42," stars Chadwick Boseman as the iconic baseball player and Harrison Ford as Brooklyn Dodgers executive Branch Rickey, who brought No. 42 onto the team in 1947 as the Major Leagues' first black player.
It drew an older audience. Estimates say 83 percent of viewers were over the age of 25.
"Scary Movie 5" failed to draw much of an audience at all. Its $15.2 million was the worst opening for the comedy-horror franchise. In 2011, "Scream 4" opened 11 years after the franchise's last movie and took in just $18.7 million, a fraction of the $30 million-plus debuts for the previous two sequels.
Animated comedy "The Croods" remained among the top films of the weekend with $13.2 million.
The top films of the weekend were:
1. "42," $27.3 million.
2. "Scary Movie 5," $15.2 million ($3.5 million international).
3. "The Croods," $13.2 million ($25.5 million international).
4. "G.I. Joe: Retaliation," $10.8 million ($15.6 million international).
5. "Evil Dead," $9.5 million ($2.9 million international).
6. "Jurassic Park" in 3-D, $8.8 million ($1.3 million international).
7. "Olympus Has Fallen," $7.3 million.
8. "Oz the Great and Powerful," $4.9 million ($5.2 million international).
9. "Tyler Perry's Temptation," $4.5 million.
10. "The Place Beyond the Pines," $4.1 million ($2.2 million international).
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
