Ruth Bader Ginsburg outdoes Pope Francis at doc box office

RBG continues impressive theatrical run; Pope Francis: A Man of His Word debuts in second 

An image of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg from the documentary "RBG." Photo courtesy Magnolia Pictures

Doc moviegoers have once again rendered a judgment in favor of Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

RBG, the film about the U.S. Supreme Court Justice directed by Betsy West and Julie Cohen, continued its tremendous performance at the box office over the weekend, earning another $1,252,920 according to audience measurement firm comScore. In three weeks of release RBG has made more than $3.8 million. It played on 378 screens, a wide release for a documentary film.

The gender line helps to keep women not on a pedestal, but in a cage.

--Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg

RBG easily maintained the top spot among nonfiction films, holding off a challenge from Wim Wenders' new papal documentary, Pope Francis: A Man of His Word. That film made $507,870 in its opening weekend, strong enough for second place. The film played on 346 screens, opening just days after its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival.

Pope Francis: A Man of His Word "is intended to be a personal journey with Pope Francis, rather than a biographical documentary about him," according to the film's website. "A rare co-production with the Vatican, the pope's ideas and his message are central to this documentary, which sets out to present his work of reform and his answers to today's global questions from death, social justice, immigration, ecology, wealth inequality, materialism and the role of the family." 

The top five nonfiction films at the box office, as reported by comScore:

1. RBG, directed by Betsy West and Julie Cohen
2. Pope Francis: A Man of His Word, directed by Wim Wenders
3. Pandas, directed by David Douglas and Drew Fellman
4. Boom for Real: The Late Teenage Years of Jean-Michel Basquiat, directed by Sara Driver
5. Always at the Carlyle, directed by Matthew Miele