The Magnificent Seven opened to a healthy $34.7 million. That's the best opening for star Ethan Hawke, barely topping The Purge ($34.0m), and director Antoine Fuqua, barely topping The Equalizer ($34.1m). It's also the third best opening for Denzel Washington, coming in behind American Gangster ($43.5m) and Safe House ($40.1m). As for the month of September, its opening weekend ranks sixth all time.
The western is on track to cover its $90 million budget as long as there's a healthy amount from foreign territories. Even though Denzel consistently pulls most of his grosses from domestic audiences, The Magnificent Seven's PG-13 rating and ensemble cast should broaden the appeal. There's competition from Mark Wahlberg's Deepwater Horizon next weekend, but that's about it for action audiences for a month. Deepwater is getting better buzz, so it will be interesting to see how Magnificent Seven holds up in the weeks to come against it.
Storks opened to $21.3 million. That's not the best start for the Andy Samberg flick from Warner Bros. Animation, the studio behind Happy Feet and The LEGO Movie. There's a $70 million budget to cover that foreign markets will need to help with. There's no competition until Trolls in November, but whether the movie can sustain an audience throughout October or not remains to be seen.
Sully took in $13.5 million (-37.5%) on its third weekend. At $92.1 million domestically, it's the fifth best domestic grosser for director Clint Eastwood and the fourth best for star Aaron Eckhart. The biopic has grossed $127.1 million worldwide so far on a $60 million budget.
Bridget Jones's Baby took in $4.6 million (-45.7%) on its second outing. Considering there was no competition and solid reviews, the romantic comedy should've held over a bit better. It may have only pulled in $16.5 million domestically so far, but foreign markets have made up for it by bringing the worldwide total to $84.0 million. The movie needed to cover a $35 million budget.
Snowden made $4.056 million (-49.3%). In two weeks, the Joseph Gordon-Levitt flick has grossed $15.0 million domestically against its $40 million budget. I still love you, JGL.
Blair Witch grossed $4.053 million (-57.7%) on its second weekend. The third Blair flick has only pulled in $21.1 million worldwide, but was made for only $5 million. It's still the death of a franchise, one that everybody thought was dead already.
The top 10 are as follows:
1. The Magnificent Seven - $34.7 million (NEW)
2. Storks - $21.3 million (NEW)
3. Sully - $13.5 million (-37.5%)
4. Bridget Jones's Baby - $4.6 million (-45.7%)
5. Snowden - $4.056 million (-49.3%)
6. Blair Witch - $4.053 million (-57.7%)
7. Don't Breathe - $3.7 million (-33.1%)
8. Suicide Squad - $3.1 million (-33.9%)
9. When the Bough Breaks - $2.5 million (-54.1%)
10. Kubo and the Two Strings - $1.1 million (-55.7%)
Thank you for the help, Box Office Mojo.
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