'Noah' rains down on 'Divergent', 'Muppets' to win US box office

'Noah', starring Russell Crowe as the biblical figure who built an ark to save his family and specimens of every animal from the great flood, collected $44 million in U.S. and Canadian ticket sales to lead the weekend box office.

It sailed past last weekend's winner, "Divergent", which is based on the novel by Veronica Roth about a dystopian world divided into factions. "Divergent" collected $26.5 million and a total of $95 million since its March 21 release.

"Muppets Most Wanted", starring Ty Burrell and Tina Fey with Jim Henson's furry puppets, was third with $11.4 million in ticket sales from Friday through Sunday, according to estimates provided by Rentrak.

"Noah" was released by Paramount Pictures, a unit of Viacom Inc. Walt Disney Co distributed "Muppets". "Divergent" was released by Lions Gate Entertainment Corp.

(Reporting By Ronald Grover and Chris Michaud; Editing by Sophie Hares)