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

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