Praise not gangs. It was only a matter of time before the N.W.A. would get popped at the box office and it finally happened thanks to El Hijo del Christo. That’s right. The Lord and His followers made Sony/Affirm’s faith-based War Room the number one film of the weekend with an estimated $9.35 million. Straight Outta Compton slipped to second with $8.85 million.
Reports indicate that the Labor Day weekend will net $87 million in ticket sales, which is an 18% decrease compared to the holiday weekend last year, according to box office tracker Rentrak.
Broad Green Pictures had its first wide release at the cineplex with the Robert Redford-Nick Nolte hiking pic A Walk in the Woods. Released in 1,960 theaters last weekend, it finished with $8.4 million, Friday to Sunday. Definitely seeing the potential in serving an older audience the distributor picked a weekend where holiday travel by automobile increased by a wide margin thanks to the price of gas. Nevertheless, the dramedy is an appetizer before we get to awards season and the throng of prestige pictures heading to theaters.
After the box office success that was Lucy, EuropaCorp saw its reboot of The Transporter franchise stall as The Transporter Refueled posted a $2,076 per-screen average with its debut in 3,434 theaters to finish with $7.13 million.
The biggest surprise was the performance of Lionsgate-Pantelion’s Un Gallo con Muchos Huevos (“The Chicken with Many Eggs”). Playing at just 395 locations, it had the best per-screen average of any top 10 release as it finished with $3.4 million. This is not new for Lionsgate, as it has had Spanish-language hits like Instructions Not Included and Ladron que Roba a Ladron.
Rounding out the top ten was Pixar’s Inside Out, which re-enters the list thanks to Disney expanding the animated hit from 763 theaters to 2,967 theaters. It finished with an estimated $3.146 million.
In global news, Jurassic World has passed $1 billion overseas while Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation has eclipsed $500 million worldwide. Don’t look now but Terminator Genisys has made more than $435 million, and 80% of its total gross is attributed to his performance in foreign territories.
Looking ahead to the weekend we have three major releases hitting theaters with the drama 90 Minutes in Heaven, the thriller Perfect Guy and M. Night Shyamalan’s lastest, The Visit. Having never heard of 90 Minutes, it looks to be a two-horse race between a thriller and a horror movie. Since Perfect Guy comes from Sony Pictures and Screen Gems and has a predominate African-American cast, look for it to perform to what No Good Deed (also a Screen Gems release) did in the same weekend slot last year. But curiosity may lead audiences to check out what M. Night and producer Jason Blum (Paranormal Activity) have concocted with The Visit.
Top 10 below.
01. War Room – $9,350,000
02. Straight Outta Compton – $8,850,000 ($147,785,705)
03. A Walk in the Woods – $8,400,000 ($10,459,000)
04. Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation – $7,150,000 ($180,386,692)
05. The Transporter Refueled – $7,130,000
06. No Escape – $5,445,000 ($18,446,079)
07. The Man From U.N.C.L.E. – $3,445,000 ($39,374,148)
08. Un Gallo con Muchos Huevos – $3,400,000
09. Sinister 2 – $3,377,000 ($23,717,000)
10. Inside Out – $3,146,000 ($348,219,280)
