|
 Filmed for a mere $3 million and distributed by Sony's Affirm
division, "War Room" more than tripled its production budget in
a single weekend, picking up $11 million from 1,135 locations.
That also easily topped projections that had it debuting in the
$4 million to $5 million range, although in retrospect those
estimates were overly conservative given that advance ticket
sales were unusually strong.
"These are the kind of outlier events that happen and wake
everyone up to the fact that faith-based audiences are
passionate and looking for content," said Paul Dergarabedian,
senior media analyst at Rentrak.
The film is the latest faith-based hit from director Alex
Kendrick and his brother, writing and producing partner Stephen
Kendrick, the pair behind "Fireproof" and "Courageous." It marks
the biggest debut of their careers.
"There is so much love for this film," said Rory Bruer, Sony's
distribution chief. "It starts with the Kendricks. They're
visionaries in this genre."
Despite the success of the "War Room," "Straight Outta Compton"
topped charts for a third consecutive weekend, becoming the
first film to manage that feat since "Jurassic World." The rap
biopic about the early days of N.W.A. pulled in an impressive
$13.2 million, pushing its domestic total to $134.1 million. It
is now the highest-grossing musical biopic, trumping the Johnny
Cash drama "Walk the Line" and its $119.5 million domestic haul.
"War Room" reaffirms the potency of faith-based crowds, ranking
along previous hits such as "God's Not Dead" and "Heaven is for
Real," but aside from its success, there was very little to
celebrate.
The month of August sputtered to a close as the trio of new
releases failed to inject much life into ticket sales. The
overall box office was down more than 20% from the year-ago
period when "Guardians of the Galaxy" was still drawing big
crowds. That comparison is problematic, however, given that
Labor Day fell during that period and the holiday has been
pushed back a week this year.
[to top of second column] |
"No Escape," a thriller about an American family ensnared in a
violent political coup in a nameless Asian country, finished in
fourth place with $8.2 million from 3,355 locations. It has earned
$10.2 million since debuting on Wednesday. The Weinstein Company
paid just under $5 million for rights to the film, which was
criticized in by some critics for being retrograde in its depiction
of a developing country's culture and politics.
"We'll make money on it," said Erik Lomis, the Weinstein Company's
distribution chief. "We're not big spenders on the [promotion and
advertising] side and we spent late and did a good job getting to
our target audience."
Not even the presence of Efron could lift "We Are Your Friends" at
the multiplexes. The look at the electronic music scene bombed,
eking out a paltry $1.8 million from 2,333 screens, making it the
worst wide-release launch of the "High School Musical" star's career
and one of the lowest wide-release debuts for a major studio film in
history. Given that dreary pedigree, it's no surprise that "We Are
Your Friends" fell far short of projections, which had it debuting
to roughly $8 million. Warner Bros. spent $2 million to acquire it
out of the American Film Market, limiting the studio's financial
exposure.
"We're disappointed," said Jeff Goldstein, Warner Bros. distribution
executive vice president. "We believe in Zac and this was a passion
project of his."
The top five was rounded out by "Mission: Impossible - Rogue
Nation," which captured third place with $8.3 million, and "Sinister
2," which nabbed fifth position with a $4.7 million finish. The
latest "Mission: Impossible" has earned $170.4 million since
debuting in July, while the second "Sinister" film has racked up
$18.5 million in two weeks.
[© 2015 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2015 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. |
