Denzel Washington returned to top form at the box office this weekend with the fourth highest September opening ever.
In at number 1 is The Equalizer (read our review) with $35 million. For all intents and purposes, The Equalizer is a solid hit for Denzel Washington and ranks as the actor's third best opening.
The Equalizer's opening also ranks fourth best among all September new releases, behind Hotel Transylvania, Insidious Chapter 2, and, strangely, the Reese Witherspoon romantic comedy Sweet Home Alabama. The film should hold well, as most Denzel Washington films do, but will face some stiff competition from Gone Girl next weekend.
Coming in at number 2 is The Maze Runner with $17.5 million. Last weekend's number 1 film held pretty well from last weekend and is now up to $58 million.
The Boxtrolls (read our review) is the number 3 film with $17.2 million. That's right on the nose for Laika Animation, whose past two releases, Coraline ($16M) and ParaNorman ($14M), have done okay business at the box office.
Stop motion animation is clearly a tough proposition for casual audiences, though, despite its success with critics. Still, The Boxtrolls could hold well with families given October's decidedly adult-focused slate.
The number 4 film this weekend is This is Where I Leave You with $7 million. The family dramedy is now up to $22 million. Not bad, but not great.
Rounding out the top 5 is Dolphin Tale with $4.8 million. This inspirational sequel has been trailing its predecessor (final total: $72M) since the very beginning but has made a decent $33 million over three weeks.
In at number 6 is No Good Deed with $4.6 million. Idris Elba's thriller has done really well for itself, grossing $46 million after three weeks.
Falling all the way to number 7 this weekend is A Walk Among the Tombstones with $4.2 million. Obviously, it was going to be a tough road for the film, what with The Equalizer occupying a similar space, but most expected better from a Liam Neeson movie. So far, the film has earned $20 million.
Guardians of the Galaxy is the number 8 film with $3.7 million, which brings its domestic total up to $319M. The film is now the third highest-grossing film (domestically) in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, behind only Iron Man 3 and Avengers. Guardians has also made $325 million overseas.
Coming in at number 9 is Let's Be Cops with $1.5 million. The buddy cop comedy is now up to $79 million.
Rounding out the top 10 is Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles with $1.4 million. Paramount's big screen reboot is up to $187 million domestic.
[NOTE: These are only weekend box office estimates - based on Friday and Saturday ticket sales coupled with adjusted expectations for Sunday. Official weekend box office results will be released on Monday, September 29th - at which time we'll update this post with any changes.]
Source: Box Office Mojo