CinemaNerdz

Box Office Weekend: The Equalizer Is Top Draw

Seth Paul
Box Office Weekend

Critical reaction may be mixed, but The Equalizer won over audiences handily as box office revenues continue to improve (even over the similar weekend from last year), the Denzel Washington-led thriller bringing in an estimated $35 million. With a budget of $55 million, the film is off to a good start; The Maze Runner, on the other hand, cleared a few hurdles to garner itself a mostly successful second weekend with an estimated $17.5 million, just enough to edge out close contender The Boxtrolls, which brought in an estimated $17.3 million. The Boxtrolls may be in for a rough haul despite getting positive reviews, as its budget remains unreported.

From fourth place down, no film broke $10 million in weekend revenue. Of them, the closest was This Is Where I Leave You, the dramatic comedy taking an estimated $7 million and walking into a profit, while Dolphin Tale 2 came close to breaking even with an estimated $4.8 million (but well below the success of its 2011 predecessor). No Good Deed, in the meantime, fell below Dolphin Tale 2 with an estimated $4.6 million, but has the good fortune to be closing in on four times its production costs, leaving the critically slammed thriller feeling pretty good about itself. It spoke ill for A Walk Among the Tombstones, which scored well last weekend with critics and audiences alike, but fell to seventh with an estimated $4.2 million and a rough go to make back its $28 million, which did not seem like such a battle last weekend.

Meanwhile, there is little to comment on for the bottom three. Whether winners or losers with critics, all three have been bang-up successes, with Guardians of the Galaxy continuing to add to its “highest-earning domestic film of 2014” totals with an estimated $3.8 million, Let’s Be Cops closing in on $80 million in gross totals with an estimated $1.5 million, and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles once again proving anything Michael Bay either directs or produces will win big, as an estimated $1.5 million brings the running domestic total to $187.2 million; not shabby for a film very few are willing to defend critically.

Weekend Box Office (September 26th – September 28th)

  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…$1.5 million

Seth Paul

When not failing to write novels and screenplays, box-office guru Seth writes humorous comedy tracks for films under the name "The One Man Band" that can be found at Rifftrax.com. Although, he has recently succeeded in writing the novella "Jack Alan and the Case of the Not-Exactly Rocket Scientists," available as an eBook on Amazon. He is also the English voice of Zak in "Zak McKracken: Between Time and Space."
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