Box Office: 'The Equalizer' Knocks 'Maze Runner' Out of Top Spot
Denzel Washington has proven his status as a box office draw with The Equalizer, the action thriller that knocked The Maze Runner out of the No. 1 spot with a $35 million debut. This not only marks the third-best opening of Washington's career, it's also the best September opening ever for an R-rated movie.
The Equalizer saw huge increases as a result of playing in IMAX theaters and other large-format screens, in addition to drawing a fairly even audiences across genders, as audiences were comprised of 52% males and 48% females. This speaks to Washington's broad appeal as an action star, since I doubt many viewers would have been all that interested to see a movie based on a 1980s TV show without him in the lead. Of course, the film did skew a bit older, appealing exactly to the demographic that might have seen the original TV show, as 65% of ticket buyers were reportedly over the age of 30. In a sparse fall season so far, The Equalizer has been a hearty success. However, it hasn't been the only one.
Animated film The Boxtrolls debuted with an impressive $17.3 million, the best opening ever for Laika, the Oregon-based animation company responsible for the critically-acclaimed films Coraline and ParaNorman. Yet even with this successful opening, The Boxtrolls just narrowly missed out on claiming the No. 2 spot, as The Maze Runner edged out the newcomer with $17.5 million. In its second weekend, the Young Adult action drama has earned $58 million domestically, with a foreign total of $91 million.
The Top 5 was rounded out by Shawn Levy's dramedy This Is Where I Leave You, and Warner Bros. family film Dolphin Tale 2. The films earned $7 million and $4.8 million, respectively, which was enough to stave off the challenge of two former Top 5 finishers No Good Deed and A Walk Among the Tombstones.
Check out the Top 10 at the weekend box office below:
1. The Equalizer ($35 million)
2. The Maze Runner ($17.5 million)
3. The Boxtrolls ($17.3 million)
4. This Is Where I Leave You ($7 million)
5. Dolphin Tale 2 ($4.8 million)
6. No Good Deed ($4.6 million)
7. A Walk Among the Tombstones ($4.2 million)
8. Guardians of the Galaxy ($3.8 million)
9. Let's Be Cops ($1.5 million)
10. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles ($1.45 million)
Credit: Columbia Pictures