Audiences turned out in droves for the late season thriller, which brought in US$26.1 million (NZ$36m) in the USA, according to studio estimates. They’re cheap to make – “Don’t Breathe” cost a reported $10 million, and even at $40 million, “Conjuring 2” is a bargain by current Hollywood standards.
Advertisement
Don’t Breathe is about a group of youngsters targeting a blind man’s house for an easy robbery, only to later realize it’s a fatal mistake.
Sony Pictures Marketing Chief Josh Greenstein noted how rare it was for a film in this genre to have resonated so deeply with critics. “It’s the latest in a string of low-budget movies that have been very profitable movies for Sony, including The Shallows and Sausage Party”. 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.
Don’t Breathe effectively unseated Suicide Squad from its three-week run atop the box office. After nabbing $56.8 million from 62 territories, according to Variety, it’s now the second-highest grossing Bourne film of all time, pulling in over $347 million worldwide.
Landing in third was “Kubo and the Two Strings”, from LAIKA and Focus Features, with $7.9 million. Jessica Alba co-stars. The film was expected to take in $6.8 million, the projection of BoxOfficePro.com analysts.
Another animated film, “Sausage Party”, which narrates the existential quest of a sausage, ranks fourth with nearly 7.7 million (80 million in three weeks).
The weekend’s other major wide release is Lionsgate’s “Mechanic: Resurrection”, starring Jason Statham, which claimed the fifth box office spot. The first film opened to $11.4m in 2011. While a superhero movie usually claims the number one spot during its opening weekend, history has shown how the forthcoming weeks can have drastically different outcomes for the genre. Despite the returns of Matt Damon and director Paul Greengrass to the franchise, and higher ticket prices, the new Bourne looks unlikely to top the domestic grosses of Damon’s last two installments in this series – 2007’s The Bourne Ultimatum and 2004’s The Bourne Supremacy – and may end at about $165M. Where available, the latest worldwide numbers for Friday through Sunday are also included. It earned about million in the country over the course of six days.
Advertisement
War Dogs fell exactly as you might expect for a male audience-targeted action dramedy, off 51% to $7.3 million for #7 in its second weekend. “Mechanic Resurrection” was directed by Dennis Gansel, working off a screenplay that was written by Philip Shelby and Tony Mosher.
