Opening at #1 with stronger-than-expected results was Screen Gems' The Perfect Guy, which managed a strong $26.7 million, for a per-venue average of a strong $12,022 from just 2,221 locations. That's slightly higher than No Good Deed from this same weekend last year. While there has been some competition for African-American audiences in the last few weeks, the PG-13 rating helped bring in a younger crowd. Despite an "A-" CinemaScore, reviews weren't great (31% on Rotten Tomatoes). And the film seemed frontloaded a bit over the weekend (it only increased slightly on Saturday). Regardless of how fast it falls from here, The Perfect Guy will still wind up a strong success for Sony, which after struggling during the first eight months of the year struggling, has topped the last two weekends in a row. The budget on this one was just $12 million, so this one will quickly wind up in the black. Sony had said they would be happy with a debut in the low-teens millions. Guy's #1 opening marks the fifth weekend in a row a movie with an African-American cast has topped the box office.
Opening an extremely close #2 (and it could still take #1 if actuals reveal less for Guy) was horror flick The Visit. Also rated PG-13 to bring in a larger crowd, it earned $25.7 million, for a per-venue average of a very good $8,371 from 3,069 locations. For director M. Night Shayalaman, this is a lower opening than both The Last Airbender ($31 million) and After Earth ($28 million). However, this is also his best-reviewed (62% on Rotten Tomatoes) effort in quite some time also. Thanks to strong buzz and good critical reception, The Visit edged out Insidious - Chapter 3 for the biggest opening of the year to date for a horror flick. The CinemaScore was a "B-", which is above-average for the genre. It also jumped up on Saturday (taking first place that day), which is a rarity for the horror genre in general. This could play well, we'll have to keep an eye on it (no competition for the remainder of September will also help). And with just a $5 million pricetag, this is yet another major winner for distributor Universal, as they've had a fantastic 2015.
Despite some competition added this weekend, War Room held on strongly. The Kendrick Brothers latest was down just 22% in its third weekend to $7.4 million. With $39.2 million in 17 days. War Room has already passed Fireproof and Courageous for the directors' biggest effort to date, and is also running ahead of God's Not Dead through the same point. Next weekend brings a little bit more competition with Captive.
After a solid start last weekend, A Walk in the Woods held decently, off 44% to $4.6 million, for a decent $19.1 million gross in 12 days. Woods had just an $8 million budget, so a $30-35 million final gross would still be enough to have distributor newbie Broad Green Pictures earn a few bucks. As long as estimates hold, Mission Impossible - Rogue Nation will have managed 7 straight weeks in the Top 5, a feat no other summer movie this year has done. The Tom Cruise hit had the strongest hold in the Top 10, off 43% to $4.2 million, for a strong $188.2 million gross in 49 days. As long as it holds onto some screens, Rogue Nation stands a chance at ultimately edging past the $200 million mark by the time its done. The five-quel also got off to a huge start in China, earning $86 million in five days.
Close behind was Straight Outta Compton, which was off 53% to $4.1 million in its fifth weekend. The R&B biopic has earned $155.7 million in one month of release with not much more to go. No Escape followed with a 47% decline to $2.9 million, for a decent $24.2 million pick-up in 19 days. The Transporter Refueled plummeted 63% to $2.7 million, for a weak $13.3 million pick-up in 10 days (barely in line with the previous film's opening weekend), and will struggle to reach $20 million.
Meanwhile, opening in ninth place, faith-based book adaptation 90 Minutes in Heaven earned $2.2 million, averaging a slow $2,461 from 878 locations. That's not a good opening by any means, but its not a terrible one either. 90 Minutes was kind-of overshadowed by the resounding success of War Room, and didn't have nearly the same level of awareness. For what its worth, however, it did earn more than other recent independent Christian movies, such as Grace Unplugged, The Christmas Candle, Faith of Our Fathers, Where Hope Grows and The Ultimate Life. As for future prospects, additional competition from Captive certainly won't help, but it should at least hit $5 million.Rounding out the Top 10 was Spanish animated effort Un Gallo con Muchos Huevos, which was off 45% to $1.9 million despite adding over 200 locations (its per-venue average ranked fourth in the Top 10). The Lionsgate release has earned $6.7 million in 10 days.
Well, that's it for this week. Look out for a summer review over the next couple of days, as well as a review for 90 Minutes in Heaven at the end of this week. Next weekend brings an incredibly competitive frame that features The Maze Runner: Scorch Trials, potential Oscar contender Black Mass, faith-based flick Captive and the IMAX release of adventure flick Everest. How will all of these do? We shall see.
