Box Office, ‘Suicide Squad’ & ‘Sausage Party’ Top, Ben-Hur DOA

$TWX, $SNE, $VIA, $CBS, $LGF

Holdovers ‘Suicide Squad’ and ‘Sausage Party’ stay #1 and # 2, respectively, Natalie Portman’s directorial debut, ‘A Tale of Love and Darkness,’ opened at the specialty box office, ‘Hell or High Water’ continues to impress.

Timur Bekmambetov’s Ben-Hur DOA the box-office this weekend, taking just $11.4-M from 3,804 theaters despite production costs of $100-M (#5) and getting beat War Dogs and Kubo and the Two Strings.

Overall, Warner Bros.’ Suicide Squad stayed # 1 in its 3rd weekend, grossing $20.7-M from 3,924 theaters for a domestic take of $262.3-M. Overseas, the anti-Superhero film passed the $300-M mark after earning another $38-M from 64 markets for a global box office of $572-M+.

Sausage Party, from Sony (NYSE:SNE) and Annapurna Pictures, took 2nd place with $15.3-M from 3,103 locations for a 10-day domestic box office total of $65.9-M. the R-rated animated comedy fell 55%.

Ben-Hur, was hammered by critics but earned an A- CinemaScore.

It hoped to attract faith-based moviegoers, but that effort was challenged.

MGM partnered with Paramount in making Ben-Hur and put up the majority of the financing, or 80%. Overseas, the epic rolled out in about 33% of the marketplace, grossing $10.7-M for a global box office open of $22-M.

According to MGM and Paramount, 95% of the audience was over the age of 25. The movie skewed slightly female (51%).

Todd Phillips’ 1st film since the Hangover trilogy, War Dogs, opened in 3rd place with $14.3-M from 3,258 theaters. The war dramedy, which earned a B CinemaScore, is loosely based on the true story of 2 young Florida men who became international arms dealers during the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.

War Dogs drew more males (56%), and 51% of ticket buyers were over the age of 35.

Internationally, the pic debuted to $6.5-M from 31 markets for a global debut of $20.8-M. War Dogs cost nearly $50-M to make.

The well-reviewed Kubo and the Two Strings garnered an A CinemaScore, placed #4 with an $12.6-M debut from 3,260 theaters.

Pete’s Dragon, from Disney (NYSE:DIS), took in another $11.33-M for a domestic total of $42.9-M and a global box office of $57.1-M.

Critically acclaimed heist film Hell or High Water, from CBS Films and Lionsgate (NYSE:LGF), continued to do nice business in its limited rollout, grossing $2.7-M as it expanded from 32 theaters to a total of 472 for an early domestic take of $3.5-M.

Also at the specialty box office, Natalie Portman’s directorial debut, A Tale of Love and Darkness, opened more than a year after premiering at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival. The historical biographical film, in which Ms. Portman also stars, debuted to $36,000 from two theaters in New York and Los Angeles for an average of $18,000. Focus Features’ division Focus World, a theatrical-VOD label, is handling Love and Darkness.

Have some fun, see a movie this week.

  box office, cinemascore, comedy, DIS, domestic, LGF, markets, overseas, production, reviews, SNE, TWX

The following two tabs change content below.

• Bio
• Latest Posts

Paul Ebeling

Paul A. Ebeling, polymath, excels in diverse fields of knowledge. Pattern Recognition Analyst in Equities, Commodities and Foreign Exchange and author of “The Red Roadmaster’s Technical Report” on the US Major Market Indices™, a highly regarded, weekly financial market letter, he is also a philosopher, issuing insights on a wide range of subjects to a following of over 250,000 cohorts. An international audience of opinion makers, business leaders, and global organizations recognizes Ebeling as an expert.

Latest posts by Paul Ebeling (see all)

• Ferrari’s (NYSE:RACE) New F8 Tributo Spider - September 14, 2019
• The Trump Campaign Chasing Supporters Who Did Not Vote in 2016 - September 14, 2019
• Majority of Business Leaders Say President Trump Will Win in 2020 - September 14, 2019