BOX OFFICE REPORT
October 14-16, 2016
(estimates from BoxOfficeMojo.com)
TOP 5
The Accountant | $24.7 million |
Kevin Hart: What Now? | $11.9 million |
The Girl on the Train | $11.9 million |
Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children |
$8.9 million |
Deepwater Horizon | $6.3 million |
Ben Affleck took a shot as an action star without the cape and cowl, and his risk brought a great return on investment. The Accountant took the top spot with an estimated $24.7 million. The thriller required a great cast to elevate its ridiculous premise (a mild-mannered accountant for the mob is also a trained killer). That's one of the best openings for an R-rated movie in September. It's also the second-best opening for Ben Affleck among movies not based on previously existing property.
Kevin Hart won second place by a nose. His latest stand-up comedy performance What Now? beat out The Girl on the Train by less than $20,000. It's yet another success for the unstoppable Hart. The Girl on the Train won't have legs throughout the fall, but it will still be one of the stronger films of the season, especially considering it's rated R and aimed at adults.
Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children may be shutting down sooner than expected. It's going to come up short of its $110 million budget, though it's likely to be Tim Burton's 7th biggest movie. Deepwater Horizon is in a similar hole: it's not flailing, but it's nowhere near its budget or what it's predecessors have done.
Outside the top 5:
- This Weekend's Indie Champ: Christine – one of two biopics about journalist Christine Chubbuck, who killed herself live on TV in the 1970s – opened on only one screen, but took in $14,046.
- No one wanted to play with Max Steel. The action flick based on the toy line took in only $2.1 million.
- The Birth of a Nation is sadly dying a quick death. The film opened below expectations last week, and it dropped a whopping 61 percent in Week Two.
Next week:
In a supremely crowded field, there's a four-way battle. Tom Cruise is back as Jack Reacher for some reason in Never Go Back. That haunted board game is back in Ouija: Origin of Evil. Madea is back in Boo! They'll all take on the spies and the neighbors of Keeping Up with the Joneses. If I know the American moviegoing people, they'll make Madea No. 1 with $19 million. Hellur!