‘The Magnificent Seven’ Passes WB’s ‘Storks’ to the Top
After two weeks on top, Clint Eastwood’s Sully made way for a new champion. Opening with an estimated $35 million, The Magnificent Seven remake claimed the top spot this weekend.
September is already is shaping up to be a better month than August, pulling its second opener above $35 million with The Magnificent Seven. Last month, only DC’s Suicide Squad was the only film to debut above that number with $133 million. Thank a combination of positive reviews, a bankable cast and minimal competition for the solid opening. In fact, The Magnificent Seven debuted on par with Oscar hopeful Sully’s opening weekend two frames ago. Granted it won’t have the legs, but if it performs like director Antoine Fuqua’s Training Day and The Equalizer, we could be looking at a $100 million run. The next two weeks will prove if it will have the staying power against Mark Wahlberg’s Deepwater Horizon and The Girl on the Train.
In second place, Warner’s animated film Storks opened to an estimated $21.8 million. Even with positive reviews, early predictions pegged Storks much higher, closer to $30 million. September has been a lucrative month for animation in the past. Sony’s Hotel Transylvania and Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs franchises have capitalized on the lack of animated competition in the fall. This is director Nicholas Stoller’s first crack at animation and should fare better than his live-action comedies such as Neighbors and The Five-Year Engagement. But that’s just the nature of animation during this time of the year. Unless your name is The Wild Life.
Down two spots from last weekend, repeat champ Sully grossed another $13.8 million. The Clint Eastwood, Tom Hanks collaboration continues to hold well as it’s expected to surpass $100 million within a week. In comparison, Sully continues to falls slightly harder than Oscar-nominated Captain Phillips. Still, its staying power should hold if it too becomes a possible Oscar contender in the coming months. $130 million is still in play.
Dipping one spot to fourth, Bridget Jones’s Baby grossed another $4.5 million in its second weekend. Down 47% from last weekend, Baby continues to fall harder than the previous two films. To be fair, it’s difficult to compare with the last two films due to expansions and drastically different release schedules. The Renee Zelwegger rom-com should be able to finish close to $25 million.
Rounding out the charts this weekend is Oliver Stone’s Snowden. In its second weekend, the Edward Snowden bio-pic pulled in another $4.1 million. With Oscar chances out the window, a leggy run seems highly unlikely and should finish slightly less than Bridget Jones’s Baby just above $20 million.
Note: These #’s are based on Sunday’s projections and can change with Monday’s actual #’s.
#1 – The Magnificent Seven (NR)
$35.0 million / $35.0 million total
#2 – Storks (NR)
$21.8 million / $21.8 million total
#3 – Sully (1)
$13.8 million / $92.4 million total
#4 – Bridget Jones’s Baby (3)
$4.5 million / $16.5 million total
#5 – Snowden (4)
$4.1 million / $15.1 million total
Opening Next Week: Deepwater Horizon, Masterminds, Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children, The Queen of Katwe (expanding)
Source: Box Office Mojo
