After it was initially projected to make no more than $15 million, Don’t Breathe opened with an estimated .1 million instead.
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The film follows a gang of thieves who find out that the blind man whose house they’ve targeted isn’t as helpless as he appears.
With a budget of under $10m (£7.6m), it is already in profit, and its success has ended supervillain romp Suicide Squad’s three-week run at the top.
Sony Pictures Marketing Chief Josh Greenstein noted how rare it was for a film in this genre to have resonated so deeply with critics.
“This marks a string of very profitable hits for Sony with very modest budgets”.
“As it turns out, horror is the least scary genre this summer, especially to the bean counters in Hollywood”, said Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst for box office tracker comScore. And yet, they all still did better than the new “Mechanic“, a sequel to a five-year-old movie that was itself a remake of a 1972 Charles Bronsonfilm.
Falling to No. 2 for the first time since it debuted is Warner Bros.’ DC Comics adaptation Suicide Squad, which sheds 42 percent of its audience for a weekend finish at around $12.1 million.
The animated family film Kubo and the Two Strings came in No. 3. Southside With You had met with critical acclaim at the Sundance Film Festival.
The raunchy animated comedy Sausage Party, with Seth Rogen as the leading voice, made US$7.7 million.
Among new releases, Lionsgate bowed “Mechanic: Resurrection”, a follow-up to the 2011 cult hit “The Mechanic”, in 2,258 locations, where it earned US$7.5 million. Projections see the film raking in $11 million at the end of the weekend.
Southside with You, inspired by President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama’s first date, and the biopic Hands of Stone, focusing on boxing legend Roberto Duran, both finished outside the top 10 after opening in just over 800 theaters.
Next weekend will be much quieter, with “The Light Between Oceans“, and “Morgan” opening nationwide.
This being the penultimate week in the summer movie season it has become clear things are winding down. Given how intriguing it looks, there’s no reason to think Don’t Breathe won’t reach its expected numbers this weekend as well.
Despite mixed reviews, Suicide Squad has been holding onto the number one spot for weeks. That was the second highest horror debut this year, behind the $40 million banked by The Conjuring 2 when it opened in June.
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Pete’s Dragon was down one spot in its third weekend to #6 with $7.3 million, which was down a nice 36% from last week. The $60 million stop-motion delight added $7.9 million to its bank, bringing its domestic ten-day total up to $24.9 million. War Dogs fell 51% in its second weekend to an estimated $7.3M.
