Exodus' Was Plagued by Race and Bible Problems. Here's How Viewers Voted With Their Wallets When the Film Dropped.

LOS ANGELES (TheBlaze/AP) — It's said to have a race problem.

Its lead actor has some major issues with the Biblical icon he's playing.

Some Christians — including Glenn Beck — have said they won't pay to see it.

But despite the widespread criticism, the Biblical epic "Exodus: Gods and Kings" ruled the box office its opening weekend with a chart-topping $24.5 million, according to box office tracker Rentrak's Sunday estimates.

This image released by 20th Century Fox shows Joel Edgerton, left, and Christian Bale in a scene from "Exodus: Gods and Kings." The film, directed by Ridley Scott, is set for release on Dec. 12, 2014. (AP Photo/20th Century Fox, Kerry Brown)

The Ridley Scott-directed tale effectively ended the three week reign of "The Hunger Games: Mockingjay — Part 1," which came in second with an estimated $13.2 million.

With a reported $140 million production budget, "Exodus: Gods and Kings" met expectations in its debut weekend, but it failed to live up to the precedent set by some recent biblically-themed films, including "Noah" which opened to $43.7 million in March.

Also new in theaters, "Top Five," from writer-director and star Chris Rock, opened strongly. The Paramount-distributed comedy took in an estimated $7.2 million from only 979 locations to take the fourth-place spot.

—

Follow Zach Noble (@thezachnoble) on Twitter