It was another quiet weekend at the North American box office as Universal Pictures’ Straight Outta Compton stayed put at number one for a third straight weekend. Three new films entered the fray this weekend, but only the faith-based drama War Room made any sort of impact. Fellow newcomers No Escape and We Are Your Friends made little to no impact. Business was down 26% from last weekend’s weak numbers and down a steep 24% from last year at this time.
Now playing on 3,142 screens, Straight Outta Compton added an estimated $13.2 million to Universal’s coffers. Off 50% from last weekend, Compton currently stands at $134.1 million and is still on track to wind down its run with a remarkable $165 million. Compton joins fellow 2015 Universal releases Furious 7 and Jurassic World to hold the number one spot for three straight weeks.
Making a surprise second place finish was the faith-based drama War Room with an estimated $11 million from 1,135 theaters. The latest religious drama from director Alex Kendrick (Fireproof, Courageous) benefitted from extensive outreach from the filmmakers and distributor Tri-Star to ministers and church groups nationwide. Reviews were damning for the $3 million drama. The nation’s scribes gave the film a 17% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes but ticket buyers thought otherwise. They gave the film an “A+” rating on CinemaScore. The $9,692 per screen average was the highest in the top ten.
Paramount’s Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation moved down one spot to third place where it earned an estimated $8.3 million from 3,095 theaters. After one month, Nation has earned a great $170.3 million domestically and an additional $281 million from overseas. Down 28% from last week, the Tom Cruise blockbuster still has an outside shot at hitting the $200 million mark by the end of its run. With China opening the film in mid-September, that foreign total should rise significantly.
Fourth place went to the new Owen Wilson action drama No Escape with a meek $8.2 million from 3,355 theaters. Since last Wednesday, the film has earned $10.3 million. Reviews were largely negative for the Weinstein Company release, which was directed by John Erick Dowdle and co-stars Pierce Brosnan and Lake Bell. Brosnan had another action film non-starter last August with The November Man.
Rounding out the top five was the Focus Features horror sequel Sinister 2 with an estimated $4.65 million from 2,799 theaters, a drop of 56% from its opening weekend. After ten days, the $10 million production has earned $18.5 million and should finish its run around $27 million.
Rounding out the top ten were the following:
6) The Man From U.N.C.L.E. (Warner) $4.4 million; $34.1 million
7) Hitman: Agent 47 (Fox) $3.8 million; $15.2 million
8) The Gift (STX) $3.1 million; $36 million
9) Jurassic World $$3.1 million; $643 million
10) Ant-Man (Disney) $3 million; $169 million
The third and final new release of the weekend was Warner’s We Are Your Friends, which landed with a massive thud in 13th place with a tone-deaf $1.8 million from 2,333 screens. The Zac Effron DJ drama was mike-dropped by the critics and ignored by the public. Warner picked up distribution rights for the film for only a few million dollars, so their loss should be minimal.
Next weekend, The Transporter: Refueled arrives on the scene in the hopes of closing out the 2015 summer movie season on a high note.
