As expected, Straight Outta Compton held the top spot. The biopic continued to show signs of front-loading, however, as it was down another 50% to $13.2 million after expanding to an additional 100 locations. In 17 days, the film has earned a strong $134.1 million, and with the extended Labor Day Weekend around the corner, remains on pace for a finish between $160 and $170 million. That's seven times its $28 million budget. Overseas hasn't been noticeable ($7 million so far), but at this point, Universal probably doesn't care. In fact, out of 34 weekends of the year so far, Universal has had the top spot in 13 of them, roughly 40% of the year so far.
The top new release of the weekend wasn't what anyone expected. Faith-based movie War Room opened in a surprisingly close second with a strong $11 million from just 1,135 locations (a Top 10-best $9,692 per-venue average). For director Alex Kendrick (and his brother Stephen), this is their most successful opening to date, ahead of their previous effort Courageous, which opened to $9 million back in 2011. It also is ahead of last year's hit God's Not Dead, which pulled in $8 million on its opening weekend. Despite just a grassroots marketing campaign and Christian movies having a hit-or-miss track record in the past year, War Room apparently released at the right time for its audience to come support it in droves. Reviews weren't good (18% on Rotten Tomatoes), but audiences gave it an "A+" CinemaScore. There is some competition coming in a couple of weeks in the form of 90 Minutes in Heaven, but with just a $3.5 million budget, this will quickly wind up in the black. War Room is the win that distributor Sony (TriStar) needed, as they haven't had a good year so far.
Continuing to show strong stability in its fifth weekend was Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation. The fifth entry in the nearly 20-year old action franchise was off just 28% to $8.3 million, for a strong $170.4 million in one month of release, or about $14 million behind the pace of Ghost Protocol. Labor Day Weekend will help Rogue Nation earn about the same over the extended frame, but its' going to need to hold on longer than that if it wants to reach $200 million stateside. Overseas, Rogue Nation is approaching the $500 million mark worldwide with still China yet to be released.
Virtually tying Mission: Impossible for third was the next new release, action flick No Escape. The Owen Wilson film opened in line with expectations, pulling in $8.3 million (mediocre $2,470 per-venue average from 3,355 locations), and a $10.3 million gross since its Wednesday start. That's slightly ahead of The November Man ($9.3 million) through the same point. Considering the budget was only $5 million here, this has to be considered a minor win for distributor The Weinstein Company. However, this debut isn't anything special either. Reviews were mixed-to-negative (41% on Rotten Tomatoes), while the CinemaScore was an OK "B+". Look for this to play decently through Labor Day before leaving.After a disappointing debut last week, Sinister 2 fell hard as usual for the horror genre. The sequel was down 56% to $4.7 million, for a dismal $18.5 million gross in 10 days. That matches the first Sinister's opening weekend. Just below it, The Man from U.N.C.L.E. had a somewhat better hold, off 40% in its third weekend to $4.4 million. The TV adaptation from Guy Ritchie has earned $34.1 million in 17 days, on its way to around $45 million stateside (its earned $70 million worldwide so far).
Hitman: Agent 47 got a direct hit, off 54% to $3.9 million, for a dismal $15.3 million gross in 10 days. The video game adaptation doesn't have much further to go, despite nearly doubling that domestic gross from overseas markets. The Gift fared much better in its fourth weekend, off just 27% to $3.1 million, for a very solid $36 million gross in 24 days. Joel Edgerton's well-received directorial debut should wind up above $40 million.
Deciding to continue its record-smashing run in theaters, Universal re-expanded Jurassic World back into IMAX 3D theaters for a week. Thanks to upping its theater count, the dino-fest returned to the Top 10 in its 12th week, earning another $3.1 million. The reboot of the Jurassic Park franchise has earned a massive $643.1 million in 84 days, and is very close to passing $1 billion overseas. Despite the "one week" promotion, based on this result and the lack of fresh options in IMAX theaters, I'd bet Universal will keep the movie around for Labor Day Weekend.
There was a three-way tie for eighth, and rounding out the Top 10 in its seventh weekend was Marvel's Ant-Man, which was down just 25% to $3.1 million, for a strong $169.2 million gross in 49 days. Ant-Man is now running barely ahead of where Captain America: The First Avenger was on the weekend prior to Labor Day. Marvel's sleeper hit (of sorts), is at $370 million worldwide with Asia yet to open.
In milestone news, Minions (which finished in 11th this week) passed the $1 billion mark this week, becoming only the third animated movie in history to pass that barrier after Toy Story 3 and Frozen. Italy got off to a record start, and with China still yet to open, Minions could very well finish as high as $1.2 billion worldwide, which would be enough to crack the Top 10 all-time list. Even so, it would cap off what has been an incredible summer for Universal, which boasts the 3rd and 4th-biggest movies of all-time also with Jurassic World and Furious 7.
Meanwhile, all the way down in 13th place was the last new release, Zac Efron's dramedy We Are Your Friends. The R-rated flick opened way below expectations, only grossing $1.8 million from 2,333 locations (a paltry $772 per-theater average). Despite only a $2 million fee for Warner Bros. to distribute, the comedy was at least expected to open to $8 million. Look for this to leave theaters very fast. But Efron should be fine with a sequel to the hit R-rated comedy Neighbors set to launch next year.
Other notable grosses below the Top 10: American Ultra ($2.8 million, -47%, $10.5 million 10-day gross), Vacation ($1.7 million, -44%, $55 million gross so far), Fantastic Four ($1.7 million, -55%, terrible $52.7 million gross so far), Ricki and the Flash ($1.7 million, -43%, $23.5 million gross so far), Trainwreck ($1.7 million, -31%, $105.1 million gross so far), Pixels ($1.55 million, -28%, $71 million gross so far), Inside Out ($1.4 million, -15%, $344.5 million gross so far), Shaun the Sheep Movie ($1.1 million, -27%, $16.3 million gross so far).
Next weekend, its Labor Day and the only nationwide release is reboot The Transporter Refueled. Its going to be another slow weekend for sure, though holdovers should get boosted and some other summer titles may re-expand.
