Box office report: Miss Peregrine perches at No. 1 with $28.5 million
Two big-budget Hollywood spectacles clashed for the top spot at the weekend box office; both budgeted at around $110 million, Peter Berg’s Deepwater Horizon ultimately proved to be no match for Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children, as the Tim Burton flick finishes its debut frame at No. 1, earning an estimated $28.5 million between Friday and Sunday.
Miss Peregrine’s No. 1 debut comes in a hair shy of Burton’s previous live-action blockbuster, Dark Shadows, which premiered to $29.7 million back in 2012. While the latter was widely seen as a box office disappointment, finishing its domestic run with just under $80 million, it scored $165 million from overseas markets, and Miss Peregrine is poised to do the same. Still, it’s arguably in position for a healthier run in North America, with stronger critical reviews (64 percent on Rotten Tomatoes) and audience reaction (it stands at a B+ on CinemaScore) than Burton’s last studio fantasy.
Deepwater Horizon, starring Mark Wahlberg, Kurt Russell, Gina Rodriguez, and Kate Hudson, crosses the finish line at No. 2 with an estimated $20.6 million (including $3.7 million from 492 IMAX locations). Though its weekend numbers amount to a little more than half of what Wahlberg and Berg’s previous collaboration, 2013’s Lone Survivor, made across its freshman three-day frame, the action-drama, based on the real-life events leading up to the 2010 BP Oil Spill, earned the best audience reviews (A- on CinemaScore) of this week’s new releases.
Taking a bigger tumble than early projections suggested, last week’s box office champ, The Magnificent Seven, falls two spots to No. 3, making an estimated $15.7 million after a 55 percent decline. Deepwater Horizon likely tapped into Seven’s potential audience, but the Antoine Fuqua-directed western is enjoying healthy worldwide totals, pacing ahead of its $90 million production budget with global numbers amounting to over $108 million and counting.
Warner Bros. Animation’s Storks dips from No. 2 to No. 4 across its second weekend in wide release, shedding a slight 35 percent as it decreases from from $21.3 million to an estimated $13.8 million. The $70 million picture — the second to be released under WB’s animation division — features an all-star voice cast including Jennifer Aniston, Andy Samberg, Ty Burrell, Kelsey Grammer, Jordan Peele, and Keegan-Michael Key.
Rounding out the top 5 is Clint Eastwood’s Sully, which crosses the $100 million mark after its fourth weekend in theaters. Unadjusted for inflation, the $60 million Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger biopic becomes the Hollywood icon’s fifth directorial effort to gross over $100 million, and star Tom Hanks’ 19th. By mid-week, the film should surpass 2013’s Captain Phillips ($107 million) as Hanks’ highest-earning live-action film since Angels & Demons earned $133 million in 2009.
Relativity’s critically-lampooned comedy Masterminds, starring Zach Galifianakis and Kristen Wiig, falls in line with modest projections, taking an estimated $6.6 million at No. 6.
As it expands from specialty release into 1,242 theaters, Disney’s Queen of Katwe stumbles at No. 7, earning a weak $2.6 million with a per-theater average of just $2,100. Still, the Lupita Nyong’o and David Oyelowo-fronted film was the runner-up for the 2016 Toronto International Film Festival’s prestigious People’s Choice Award, and notched an incredible A+ grade on CinemaScore following its limited bow on Sept. 23.
Check out the Sept. 30-Oct. 2 box office estimates below:
1. Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children – $28.5 million
2. Deepwater Horizon – $20.6 million
3. The Magnificent Seven – $15.7 million
4. Storks – $13.8 million
5. Sully – $8.4 million
6. Masterminds – $6.6 million
7. Queen of Katwe – $2.6 million
8. Don’t Breathe – $2.4 million
9. Bridget Jones’s Baby – $2.3 million
10. Snowden – $2 million