Maze, Mass dominate box office

Jacob Lofland (from left), Alex Flores and Dylan O’Brien star in Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials. It came in fi rst at last weekend’s box office and made about $30 million.
Jacob Lofland (from left), Alex Flores and Dylan O’Brien star in Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials. It came in fi rst at last weekend’s box office and made about $30 million.

LOS ANGELES -- Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials ignited the weekend box office with an estimated $30.3 million domestic debut, while the Johnny Depp gangster film Black Mass opened with some heat of its own.

Going into the weekend, tracking estimates suggested 20th Century Fox's Scorch Trials would surpass the $32.5 million opening of its predecessor, 2014's The Maze Runner. Instead, the sequel fell slightly short of that figure, likely due to the better-than-expected $23 million in ticket sales in the United States and Canada for Black Mass, which finished at No. 2.

Based on the best-selling young adult books by James Dashner, The Maze Runner series follows Thomas (Dylan O'Brien) as he is deposited into a community of young men in a post-apocalyptic world. The sequel, which cost about $61 million to make, takes them to the Scorch, a desolate landscape filled with unimaginable obstacles.

"We're in great shape," said Chris Aronson, Fox's head of distribution. "Any time you interpret a book to a visual medium, it's going to be subject to interpretation of filmmakers. I think our filmmakers, led by Wes Ball, did a tremendous job, especially with diverse casting."

Moviegoers responded positively to the story, giving it an average B-plus grade, according to audience polling firm CinemaScore. It scored particularly well in Sacramento, Calif.; Seattle; Salt Lake City; Dallas; San Antonio; and Portland, Ore.

Like other young-adult book adaptations, such as the Hunger Games and the Divergent series, Scorch Trials attracted mostly younger moviegoers. An estimated 63 percent of the opening weekend audience for the sequel was younger than 25. Female moviegoers made up about 53 percent of the audience.

"Our demos were within a couple of points from the first film," Aronson said. "I think we have a very loyal and consistent fan base."

The sequel also performed well overseas, where it made $43.3 million in 66 markets over the weekend. To date, the film has made $108.3 million globally. This weekend, the film will expand to seven more markets.

Warner Bros.' Black Mass surpassed tracking expectations. The film, which follows the rise of South Boston gangster James "Whitey" Bulger, is based on the nonfiction book Black Mass: The True Story of an Unholy Alliance Between the FBI and the Irish Mob by former Boston Globe reporters Dick Lehr and Gerard O'Neill.

Jeff Goldstein, Warner Bros. executive vice president and general sales manager, called it a sensational opening, highlighting the film's success across the board, but particularly in New England. Six of the film's top 10 locations were in New England; three were in Los Angeles; and one was in New York.

"Boston normally comes in about 2.7 percent share of our domestic openings," Goldstein said. "For Black Mass, the region made up 10 percent."

Johnny Depp's portrayal of Bulger as well as performances from co-stars Joel Edgerton and Benedict Cumberbatch helped the film garner positive word of mouth ahead of the release. Moviegoers gave it a B on CinemaScore. The majority of moviegoers for opening weekend were male (56 percent) and older than 25 (89 percent).

Universal's The Visit added about $11.6 million, enough for third place in its second weekend. The low-budget horror film from director M. Night Shyamalan is about two kids whose visit to their grandparents doesn't go exactly as planned. To date, it has made $42.6 million in U.S. and Canadian theaters.

The suspense thriller The Perfect Guy brought in about $9.8 million, dropping 62 percent in its second weekend and dropping from first to fourth place. The Columbia Screen Gems film, which stars Sanaa Lathan and Michael Ealy, has made about $41.5 million domestically to date.

Everest, released by Universal Pictures, rounded out the top five, collecting an impressive $7.2 million in just 545 Imax 3-D and premium large-format 3-D theaters in North America.

"The release strategy is meant to encourage people to see the film in the premium formats and then use the buzz to support the wider break ... [today]," said Nick Carpou, Universal's head of domestic distribution. "It's a great start."

The epic adventure film stars Jason Clarke, Josh Brolin, John Hawkes, Robin Wright, Michael Kelly, Sam Worthington, Keira Knightley, Emily Watson and Jake Gyllenhaal. An estimated 55 percent of the audience for opening weekend was 35 and older, and 54 percent was male.

The film collected $28.2 million in 36 international territories, bringing its early worldwide total to $35.8 million.

Also noteworthy last weekend: Paramount Pictures' Captive, which cost just $2 million to film, debuted at No. 11 with $1.4 million in ticket sales from 806 locations. The faith-based film stars David Oyelowo and Kate Mara and is based on Ashley Smith's book Unlikely Angel: The Untold Story of the Atlanta Hostage Hero.

In limited release, Lionsgate's drug war thriller Sicario grossed $390,000 on six screens in the United States. The solid per screen average of $65,000 is the best of any film thus far in 2015. The film will expand to about 50 theaters this weekend.

Thanks to a robust September weekend, the year-to-date box office is up 6.1 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:

  1. Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials, 20th Century Fox, $30,316,510, 3,791 locations, $7,997 average, $30,316,510, one week.

  2. Black Mass, Warner Bros., $22,635,037, 3,188 locations, $7,100 average, $22,635,037, one week.

  3. The Visit, Universal, $11,566,400, 3,148 locations, $3,674 average, $42,564,720, two weeks.

  4. The Perfect Guy, Columbia, $9,751,801, 2,230 locations, $4,373 average, $41,462,273, two weeks.

  5. Everest, Universal, $7,222,035, 545 locations, $13,251 average, $7,222,035, one week.

  6. War Room, Columbia, $6,215,991, 1,945 locations, $3,196 average, $49,054,653, four weeks.

  7. A Walk in the Woods, Broad Green Pictures, $2,808,717, 2,158 locations, $1,302 average, $24,868,233, three weeks.

  8. Mission: Impossible -- Rogue Nation, Paramount, $2,213,360, 2,202 locations, $1,005 average, $191,695,570, eight weeks.

  9. Straight Outta Compton, Universal, $1,907,980, 1,938 locations, $985 average, $158,859,240, six weeks.

  10. Grandma, Sony Pictures Classics, $1,501,101, 1,021 locations, $1,470 average, $3,694,820, five weeks.

  11. Captive, Paramount, $1,393,243, 806 locations, $1,729 average, $1,393,243, one week.

  12. Un Gallo con Muchos Huevos, Lionsgate, $1,071,849, 606 locations, $1,769 average, $8,276,205, three weeks.

  13. 90 Minutes in Heaven, IDP/Samuel Goldwyn Films, $1,005,715, 899 locations, $1,119 average, $3,748,011, two weeks.

  14. No Escape, The Weinstein Co., $1,001,735, 2,054 locations, $488 average, $26,221,737, four weeks.

  15. Minions, Universal, $986,960, 1,134 locations, $870 average, $332,850,665, 11 weeks.

  16. Inside Out, Disney, $927,379, 1,200 locations, $773 average, $352,846,548, 14 weeks.

  17. Ant-Man, Disney, $922,985, 977 locations, $945 average, $177,573,831, 10 weeks.

  18. The Man From U.N.C.L.E., Warner Bros., $754,274, 955 locations, $790 average, $44,531,628, six weeks.

  19. The Transporter Refueled, EuropaCorp, $720,771, 1,742 locations, $414 average, $15,301,587, three weeks.

  20. Pixels, Columbia, $708,243, 760 locations, $932 average, $76,283,263, nine weeks.

MovieStyle on 09/25/2015

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