Doc box office: Disneynature film reborn at No. 1

Born in China reclaims top spot after falling to second a week before

An image from "Born in China" by director Chuan Lu. Courtesy Disneynature

Born in China is back on top of the box office, after a rare week in second place.

The film from the Disneynature division of Walt Disney Pictures pushed its total earnings to $13,830,237 as of last weekend, according to audience measurement company comScore. 

Chuan Lu directed the documentary, which focuses on family relations among members of the animal kingdom, including golden monkeys, pandas and snow leopards. Born in China has spent nine of its first 10 weeks as the number one documentary in theatrical release.

A still image from "Born in China." Courtesy Disneynature

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Coming in second over the last weekend was Chasing Trane: The John Coltrane Documentary by director John Scheinfeld. The film about the jazz great who died at age 40 in 1967 has made $323,390 in 11 weeks of release, comScore reported.

Third place went to the Steve James film ABACUS: Small Enough to Jail, the story of the only bank to face criminal prosecution stemming from the 2008 financial meltdown, a lender in New York that catered to the city's Chinese immigrant community. James raises questions about whether the Manhattan District Attorney's pursuit of charges against Abacus was racially-motivated, because of the defendants' ethnicity.

Vera Sung (left), Jill Sung and their father Thomas Sung, who ran the only bank indicted on criminal charges resulting from the 2008 financial crisis. Photo by Sean Lyness courtesy Motto Pictures/PBS/Kartemquin Films

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Related: Steve James on his ABACUS doc: 'People have expressed surprise that the David in the David and Goliath story here is the bank'

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My Journey Through French Cinema (Voyage à travers le cinéma français) by director Bertrand Tavernier finished in four place in its debut weekend, playing at just three locations. 

Fifth place was taken by the Bill Morrison documentary Dawson City: Frozen Time, an unusual tale of how a cache of hundreds of long-lost silent films was recovered under an old ice rink in Canada's Yukon Territory.