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Every new debut failed, ‘The Martian’ wins again

Barry Levinson’s Rock the Kasbah, starring Bill Murray, took in $1.5 million from 2,012 theaters, the lowest debut for a film starring Murray and for Open Road Films.

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Of the new films, the Lionsgate thriller “The Last Witch Hunter” starring Diesel did the best, taking in $10.8 million on 3,082 screens to finish at No. 4.

Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension is new at six with $8.2m, and Michael Fassbender’s Steve Jobs jumps into the top 10 at seven with $7.2m. The top three films stayed the same as last weekend, though a few shuffling occurred, and no film in wide release managed to reach a $5,000 average. It had a lacklustre opening and earned $8.2 million in its debut weekend. And Steve Jobs, though critically acclaimed and a potential multiple Oscar nominee, just didn’t connect with audiences who gave it a pass in favor of heading into space with Matt Damon in The Martian.

There is not much cause for celebration at the box office this weekend. Off only 26%, the Ridley Scott blockbuster has earned a great $166 million so far. This is a film that has an A-minus CinemaScore and will be part of the dialogue going forward in (the) box office for many weeks to come.

Bridge of Spies, made for $40 million by partners DreamWorks, Participant Media and Disney, held up well in its second weekend, coming in third place with $11.4 million from 2,811 theaters for a 10-day domestic total of $32.6 million. The live-action version of the 1980s cartoon eked out a pathetic $1.3 million from 2,413 screens. That wasn’t even good enough to crack the top ten and mark the lowest openings for studio films released in at least 2,000 theaters. Another returning movie, “Goosebumps”, generated $15.5 million.

Final figures are released on Monday.

Horror flick Crimson Peak fell 58 percent to an estimated $5.6M in its sophomore frame and has scared up $22.5M for Universal.

In limited release, the period drama Suffragette racked up $77,000 on four screens – averaging an impressive $19,250 per location – and abduction drama Room made $254,000 in 23 theaters.

It was a very slow weekend for theaters, which is normal for October.

The last “Paranormal” film opened in about 2,900 locations to $18.3 million, and Paramount had expected the latest to gross between $10 million and $12 million this weekend.

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Vin Diesel in The Last Witch Hunter