LOS ANGELES -- Straight Outta Compton continued its streak at No. 1, but it was the faith-based family drama War Room that shook up the box office by debuting at No. 2.
War Room, from Sony's TriStar label, had been expected to open at $4 million to $5 million. Instead, it tallied an estimated $11.4 million in ticket sales at just 1,135 theaters in U.S. and Canadian theaters -- about one-third the number of screens for Straight Outta Compton.
Made for about $3.5 million, War Room is the latest from the Kendrick brothers, Alex and Stephen. It is Sony's fifth collaboration with the duo, who also were behind the 2008 Christian hit Fireproof, which cost just $500,000 to make but collected $33.5 million at the domestic box office.
Those audiences, which skewed female (60 percent) and older than 25 (85 percent), gave the film an A-plus rating, according to polling firm CinemaScore. The film collected $4 million on Aug. 28, then went on to make $3.8 million on Saturday and an estimated $3 million on Sunday. (The film also screened at some theaters on Thursday night.)
The box-office haul shouldn't have been entirely surprising given the success of faith-based films in the past, including Bible-inspired films such as Noah, Son of God and God's Not Dead. According to movie ticketing website Fandango, War Room scored 70 out of 100 points on its movie buzz indicator, trailing slightly behind Straight Outta Compton. The metric gauges audience interest based on data from social media, online and mobile traffic, and advance ticket sales.
Finishing ahead of War Room was the N.W.A. musical bio-pic Straight Outta Compton, which fell 50 percent in its third weekend but still added $13.1 million to its cumulative gross. To date, the Universal Pictures film has collected an estimated $134 million in the United States and Canada, making it the highest-grossing musical bio-pic ever, surpassing the $119.5 million total for Walk the Line.
Though most of the Compton cast is relatively unknown, the characters they played have had a fan following for years.
"The film follows the evolution of hip-hop culture, and people are taking advantage of the opportunity to see that story on the big screen," said Todd Boyd, a professor of race and culture at the University of Southern California. "I think the rapid success of the film speaks to the sort of fan base that made hip-hop what it is today, and perhaps younger fans who have come along later but who have an appreciation for the history of the culture."
Positive word of mouth also has propelled the film, which stars O'Shea Jackson Jr. (as Ice Cube), Corey Hawkins (as Dr. Dre), Jason Mitchell (as Eazy-E), Neil Brown Jr. (as DJ Yella) and Aldis Hodge (as MC Ren). Moviegoers have given it an average A grade, according to CinemaScore. The film also notched a 90 percent positive rating from critics on Rotten Tomatoes.
In third place for the weekend, Paramount Pictures' Mission: Impossible -- Rogue Nation fell just 28 percent in its fifth weekend. The film, starring Tom Cruise, added $8.2 million, raising its total domestic haul to about $170.2 million.
No Escape, which began rolling out in theaters on Aug. 26, landed at No. 4 with $8.1 million in ticket sales Friday through Sunday, slightly less than tracking expectations. The Weinstein Co. acquired the action thriller, which stars Owen Wilson and Pierce Brosnan, for a mere $5 million.
"We were hoping to get to higher double digits over the five-day, but I think we are positioned pretty well heading into Labor Day weekend," said Erik Lomis, head of distribution for the Weinstein Co.
The male/female breakdown for the film was fairly even. Audiences gave the film a B-plus on CinemaScore.
Sinister 2, from Focus Features' Gramercy Pictures label, rounded out the top five in its second weekend. The R-rated horror flick added $4.7 million, bringing its domestic total to $18.5 million.
A notable flop for the weekend: Warner Bros.' new R-rated Zac Efron film, We Are Your Friends, made a disappointing $1.8 million. The coming-of-age DJ drama had been tracking to pull in $10 million to $12 million. Warner Bros. paid just $2 million to acquire it.
Directed by Max Joseph, one of the filmmakers behind MTV's Catfish series, the film stars Efron as Cole Carter, a 20-something aspiring electronic-music star. It co-stars Emily Ratajkowski (Gone Girl) and Arkansas native Wes Bentley.
An estimated 61 percent of the audience was female. The film received a C-plus on CinemaScore and generally negative reviews.
Labor Day weekend, the last official weekend of the summer season, is expected to be slow with just two major new releases: The Transporter Refueled and A Walk in the Woods.
Analysts say ticket sales will pick up in the fall, with bigger film releases on deck, including M. Night Shyamalan's The Visit and young-adult sequel Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials. Year to date, the box office is up almost 6 percent.
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
The top 20 movies at U.S. and Canadian theaters Friday through Sunday, followed by distribution studio, gross, number of theater locations, average receipts per location, total gross and number of weeks in release, as compiled Monday by Rentrak (No Escape opened on Aug. 26):
Straight Outta Compton, Universal, $13,133,560, 3,142 locations, $4,180 average, $134,019,735, three weeks.
War Room, TriStar, $11,351,389, 1,135 locations, $10,001 average, $11,351,389, one week.
Mission: Impossible -- Rogue Nation, Paramount, $8,155,581, 3,095 locations, $2,635 average, $170,242,111, five weeks.
No Escape, The Weinstein Co., $8,111,264, 3,355 locations, $2,418 average, $10,172,124, one week.
Sinister 2, Focus Features, $4,665,341, 2,799 locations, $1,667 average, $18,526,943, two weeks.
The Man From U.N.C.L.E., Warner Bros., $4,431,136, 2,706 locations, $1,638 average, $34,142,762, three weeks.
Hitman: Agent 47, 20th Century Fox, $4,224,446, 3,273 locations, $1,291 average, $15,645,177, two weeks.
Ant-Man, Disney, $3,073,116, 1,690 locations, $1,818 average, $169,205,642, seven weeks.
Jurassic World, Universal, $3,010,770, 1,239 locations, $2,430 average, $642,978,555, 12 weeks.
The Gift, STX Entertainment, $3,004,313, 1,934 locations, $1,553 average, $35,830,756, four weeks.
Minions, Universal, $2,875,080, 1,976 locations, $1,455 average, $324,755,670, eight weeks.
American Ultra, Lionsgate, $2,851,916, 2,778 locations, $1,027 average, $10,540,025, two weeks.
Fantastic Four, 20th Century Fox, $1,782,398, 1,675 locations, $1,064 average, $52,745,496, four weeks.
We Are Your Friends, Warner Bros., $1,767,308, 2,333 locations, $758 average, $1,767,308, one week.
Ricki and the Flash, Columbia, $1,702,684, 1,716 locations, $992 average, $23,484,234, four weeks.
Trainwreck, Universal, $1,670,350, 957 locations, $1,745 average, $105,081,865, seven weeks.
Vacation, Warner Bros., $1,628,162, 1,555 locations, $1,047 average, $54,943,586, five weeks.
Pixels, Columbia, $1,536,865, 1,005 locations, $1,529 average, $70,971,829, six weeks.
Inside Out, Disney, $1,349,972, 763 locations, $1,769 average, $344,519,079, 11 weeks.
Shaun the Sheep Movie, Lionsgate, $1,092,821, 1,358 locations, $805 average, $16,339,388, four weeks.
MovieStyle on 09/04/2015