War Dogs follows two friends in their early 20s (Jonah Hill and Miles Teller) living in Miami Beach during the Iraq War who exploit a little-known government initiative that allows small businesses to bid on U.S. Military contracts.
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It’s possible that some of the target audience for War Dogs, namely adults, may have been lost to Sausage Party, as the latter is becoming the “must see” movie of the summer. After 17 days the film has $262.4 million and with pretty much no competition for the next few weeks, I think it might even have a shot at reaching $300 million in the US.
In a late summer line-up comprising such movies as bawdy foodstuff comedy Sausage Party, comedy-drama War Dogs, and Laika’s animated film Kubo and the Two Strings, Ben-Hur had to make do with a debut at the fifth spot in the USA top 10.
Jack Huston, Toby Kebbell, Rodrigo Santoro and Morgan Freeman star in this sixth adaptation of the famous novel, directed by the stylish director Timur Bekmanbetov (Wanted, Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter).
You can add Ben-Hur to the long list of remakes and sequels that failed to find an audience during the summer of 2016. The Disney remake is up to $42.9 million after 10 days in theaters.
As it turns out, all three of those newcomers underperformed leading to Suicide Squad winning for the third week in a row with $20.7 million.
Even an epic chariot race made with today’s computer technology couldn’t redeem “Ben-Hur”.
The film reportedly cost $A131 million to make but raked in just $A15 million on the weekend in the states. “Ben-Hur” finished its first weekend at No. 5 in the box-office. That amounts to a hefty price, one that stands little chance of being recouped following Ben-Hur’s paltry .2 million domestic debut. “Kubo and the Two Strings” was fashioned as Laika’s most ambitious film yet, with the company’s chief executive, Phil Knight, making his directorial debut. While not the biggest box office success, at least Kubo is guaranteed a Best Animated Feature nomination come Oscar time.
Ben-Hur’s backers courted religious leaders extensively, holding a series of tastemaker screenings and producing spots with pastors and other figures from the Christian community espousing the film’s biblical values.
But after the fifth place opening of “Ben-Hur”, the second coming of the sword-and-sandal movie appears to be attracting dwindling flocks of moviegoers.
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Sausage Party holds second place for the second straight week with $15.3 million raising its total domestic gross to $65.3 million.
