“Ben-Hur” earned approximately $11.4 million in the US and Canada during its first weekend and was ranked fifth at the box office by critics, the Wall Street Journal reports.
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Warner Bros.’ “War Dogs” took the third spot with an estimated 14.3 million dollars, leading the weekend’s newcomers. Although Kubo and the Two Strings received rave reviews, it only came in fourth with an estimated $12.6 million.
War Dogs, the first film Todd Philips has directed since he completed The Hangover trilogy, debuted at three with $14.3m (£10.9m). It brought in $20.7 million to bring its domestic total to $261 million. Box Office Mojo reports that Warner Bros.’ Task Force X adaptation has now made $262.2 million domestically, the eighth-highest total this year, and $572.6 million worldwide, the 11th highest tally.
Though the director of the new “Ben-Hur”, Timur Bekmambetov (“Wanted“, “Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter“), put a thrilling chariot race in his movie, along with a few other above-average action sequences, it’s nowhere close to delivering on the dramatics or story strength of the Heston version (even with Bekmambetov’s having a scene in which Jesus is crucified). The war dramedy, which earned a B CinemaScore, is loosely based on the true story of 2 young Florida men who became global arms dealers during the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.
Rounding out the top five for the U.S. box office were Kubo and the Two Strings ($12.6 million) and Ben-Hur ($11.35 million). He is also the English voice of Zak in “Zak McKracken: Between Time and Space”. The original won 11 Academy Awards, including Best Picture. Meanwhile, Jason Bourne ($8 million), The Secret Life of Pets($5.8 million) and Meryl Streep‘s Oscar bait Florence Foster Jenkins ($4.3 million) rounded out the list. Final three-day domestic figures will be released Monday. That’s a per-screen average of $18,000 for the picture in which Natalie Portman stars and directs. “Certainly, without the right cast and story, these films have struggled mightily at the box office of late”. We don’t know for sure if any of these films will be expanding in the weeks and months to come.
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Next week’s openings include: Don’t Breathe, Hands of Stone and Mechanic: Resurrection. You’d think the family film would win out, considering how more adult-oriented films are crowding the top of the box office.
