Tanks for coming: 'Fury' is No. 1 at box office

HELL HATH no "Fury" like a "Gone Girl" scorned.

Or something like that.

War won the box-office battle this weekend as David Ayer's tank drama topped David Fincher's psychodrama.

"Gone Girl" had been tops at the box office for two weeks before Brad Pitt and Co. blasted the film to second place. "Fury" captured $23.5 million in ticket sales during its opening weekend, according to studio estimates yesterday. "Gone Girl" followed with $17.8 million.

Both films are rated R.

"The fall movie season is all about making the transition from PG-13 world of summer to the R-rated, edgier world of the fall and awards season," said Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst for box-office tracker Rentrak.

The animated "The Book of Life" opened in third place with $17 million, followed by "Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day" with $12 million.

Another new film rounded out the top five: the Nicholas Sparks romance "The Best of Me," starring Michelle Monaghan and James Marsden, which debuted with $10.2 million.

"Birdman," the much-buzzed-about Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu drama starring Michael Keaton, opened in just four theaters and boasted a per-screen average of $103,750. It opens in Philadelphia next week.

* According to Us Weekly, Kevin Hart is lobbying for the job of a National Car Rental employee who left her shuttle bus to take a selfie with the mini megastar with Philly roots.

Hart posted a personal video to Instagram saying, "Hey, this message is for National Car Rental. It has come to my attention that Genesha Douglas has been suspended for taking a selfie with me," he began. "I'm asking National to please give this woman a pass.

"I love National!

"If I had seen me, I would have taken a selfie with me, too," he said. "Come on! Have some compassion!"

The woman's name is actually Genesha Bradley, but it's the thought that counts. And if Hart's plea doesn't work, maybe he can get Genesha a role in "Ride Along 3: The Emerald Club."

* U2 front man Bono says his ever-present sunglasses aren't a rock-star affectation - he has glaucoma.

And has had it for 20 years.

The condition - a buildup of pressure that can damage the optic nerve - can make the eyes sensitive to light.

Bono told the BBC's "Graham Norton Show" that he had the condition, but, "I have good treatments and I am going to be fine."

He said that people would now think of him as "poor old blind Bono."

He also acknowledged that some people had been annoyed when U2's new album, "Songs of Innocence," was sent unsolicited to millions of people with iTunes accounts.

In comments released Friday by the BBC, Bono said, "We wanted to do something fresh, but it seems some people don't believe in Father Christmas."

* Britain's Queen Elizabeth II bestowed an honor on Maggie Smith during a ceremony at Windsor Castle.

And probably got the scoop on next season's "Downton Abbey."

Smith, who plays the imperious Dowager Countess of Grantham on the hit PBS series, was made a member of the Order of the Companions of Honor on Friday in recognition of her six decades in theater, cinema and television.

The award is limited to 65 living people "of distinction." Other members include physicist Stephen Hawking, actor Ian McKellen and artist David Hockney.

Smith, 79, has won two Academy Awards, for "The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie" and "California Suite."

She is filming "The Lady in the Van," reprising her stage role as a homeless eccentric who parked for years on the driveway of playwright Alan Bennett.

* NBC is planning a Florida-based sitcom sequel to the best-selling book and hit movie "Marley & Me," by former Inquirer columnist John Grogan.

David Frankel, who directed the movie, has agreed to direct the pilot, but we're confident he understands that his top priority is directing "Busted," the pilot based on the book by Daily News reporters Wendy Ruderman and Barbara Laker.

- Daily News wire services

contributed to this report.

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