Weekend Box Office: Right on Track

Of the three new wide release movies that hit theaters on Friday, the strongest won the box office and opened in alignment with studio predictions. The other two barely made a dent and finished only $200k apart from one another, meaning that we’ll have to see the finalized box office totals later today before we’ll know which one sucked less than the other.

Despite poor reviews, ‘The Girl on the Train‘ didn’t derail – even thought it fully deserved to. The trashy thriller topped the charts with $24.6 million. With mixed word-of-mouth and Ben Affleck’s new thriller hitting screens this coming weekend, it’s likely that this train is going to lose a lot of steam over its second week. Internationally, the $45 million picture opened to an impressive $16.5 million from just a handful of large markets and a couple dozen smaller markets.

Over its second week, ‘Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children‘ fell a bit farther than most other pricy teen/kid movies. Dropping 48% in attendance, the Tim Burton picture earned another $15 million, bringing its ten-day domestic total up to $51 million. Meanwhile, it keeps chugging along overseas. From 32 markets, it has now made $94 million, giving ‘Peregrine’ a worldwide total of $145 million. Perhaps this $110 million disaster will turn a profit after all.

Thanks to positive word-of-mouth, ‘Deepwater Horizon‘ held over fairly well in its second week. The intense disaster film slipped 42% and added $11.7 million to its domestic run, which now sits at $38.5 million. Although only playing in a handful of large international markets (and a couple dozen smaller ones), the Wark Walhberg’s drama has tapped some success overseas, where it has made $27.8 million. Its worldwide total stands at $66.3 million. With a $110 million budget, the film will need an international miracle if it’s going to clear the cost of its production, let alone marketing costs.

The Magnificent Seven‘ had a stronger holdover through its third week. After a 41% drop, the remake claimed another $9.1 million, bringing its 17-day domestic earnings up to $75.9 million. Internationally, it has now made $58.7 million, for a worldwide cumulative total of $134.6 million. Still, the pricy $90 million Western appears like it will fall short of balancing out its costs.

Rounding out the Top 5 was Warner Bros.’ animated picture ‘Storks‘. Although the baby-delivering family flick didn’t open to grand numbers, its week-over-week drop-off has been light. Now through its third week, the 37% drop resulted in $8.4 million. The $70 million movie has now grossed $50.1 million in North America and $56 million internationally, for a $106.1 million worldwide total.

As of the time of this writing, of the two new releases fighting for sixth place, ‘The Birth of a Nation‘ is winning. Following its Sundance acclaim, and with controversy surrounding its director/writer/star, the film underperformed. From 2,105 locations, it made $7.1 million and a per-screen average of $3,373. Perhaps Fox Searchlight should have followed its usual limited release roll-out plan and let word-of-mouth carry the film and help overshadow the controversy as it expanded widely. There’s no word on production costs, but we know that Searchlight acquired the festival film for $17.5 million. Its international release has yet to kick off, so there’s hope for it yet.

Currently losing the battle is ‘Middle School: The Worst Years of My Life‘. With estimates coming in just $200,000 behind ‘The Birth of a Nation’, the two may flip-flop by the end of the day. The ‘tween comedy opened with $6.9 million. Playing on 2,822 screens, the movie’s per-screen average ($2,445) is far worse than ‘Birth of a Nation’. Produced for $8.5 million and with a minimal marketing campaign, the Lionsgate picture may stand a chance to break even.

Top 10:

1. ‘The Girl on the Train’ (Universal) – $24,660,000

2. ‘Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children’ (Fox) – $15,000,000

3. ‘Deepwater Horizon’ (Summit) – $11,750,000

4. ‘The Magnificent Seven’ (Sony) – $9,150,000

5. ‘Storks’ (Warner Bros.) – $8,450,000

6. ‘The Birth of a Nation’ (Fox Searchlight) – $7,100,000

7. ‘Middle School: The Worst Years of My Life’ (Lionsgate) – $6,900,000

8. ‘Sully’ (Warner Bros.) – $5,270,000

9. ‘Masterminds’ (Relativity) – $4,100,000

10. ‘Queen of Katwe’ (Buena Vista) – $1,618,000

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