New Lupita movie “Non Stop” tops US box office ahead of big night

What you need to know:

  •  The action thriller which opened on Friday ended the animated movie’s three week reign at the box office.

  • The Oscar nominated actress plays the role of Gwen who is a hostess in the ill-fated plane.

“Non-Stop” a new movie featuring Kenyan actress Lupita Nyong’o topped the US box office this weekend toppling Warner Bros’ animated "The Lego Movie."

This feat came in hours to Lupita’s potentially big moment at the Academy Awards to be held in Los Angeles, California where she is in contention for Best Actress in a Supporting role Oscar award.

The action thriller which opened on Friday ended the animated movie’s three week reign at the box office.

“Non-Stop” held off a strong challenge by another new movie “Son of God” which is a story recounting Jesus’ life using previous footage aired on the mini-series “The Bible”.

The movie which confines its entire drama inside of a plane raked in $30 million according to studio estimates. “Son of God” pulled in $26.5 million.

Lupita’s movie is a story about a US Air Marshal Bill Marks (Liam Neeson) who is trying to save passengers on a transatlantic flight from New York to London after he received mysterious texts threatening to kill a passenger every 20 minutes unless Sh13 billion ($150 million) is wired into an off shore account.

The Oscar nominated actress plays the role of Gwen who is a hostess in the ill-fated plane.