This will come as a surprise to absolutely no one, but the remake of Ben-Hur did not have a good opening weekend at the box office.
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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 United States top 10.
War Dogs drew more males (56%), and 51% of ticket buyers were over the age of 35.
Ben-Hur, was hammered by critics but earned an A- CinemaScore. Studios have generated greater profits when they target faith-based crowds with modestly budgeted dramas such as “Miracles from Heaven” and “Heaven Is for Real”.
The Oscars for William Wyler’s 1959 classic with Charlton Heston included awards for best picture, best actor and best director.
Paramount’s Noah and Fox’s Exodus: Gods and Kings were likewise big-budget offerings that hoped to appeal to all demos, including faith-based moviegoers.
War Dogs, the first film Todd Philips has directed since he completed The Hangover trilogy, debuted at three with $14.3m (£10.9m). Starring Miles Teller and Jonah Hill, the film is very loosely based on a true story of of a couple of friends who become arms dealers.
Internationally, the pic debuted to $6.5-M from 31 markets for a global debut of $20.8-M.
Paramount Pictures’ resurrection of the 1959 biblical epic opened in fifth place with weekend sales of $11.4 million in USA and Canadian theaters, researcher ComScore Inc. said.
From Focus and Laika, Kubo centers on a young boy who embarks on a quest to unlock the secret of his legacy and fulfill his heroic destiny.
Art Parkinson, Charlize Theron, Matthew McConaughey, Rooney Mara, Ralph Fiennes and George Takei star in this family friendly flick heavily inspired by Japanese culture.
Thanks to that first weekend performance, Ben-Hur ranks up there with other domestic summer flops like Alice Through the Looking Glass, The BFG, and Independence Day: Resurgence. The movie earned just $11 million from 3,000 screens, with another $10 million coming from 23 worldwide markets.
The critically acclaimed heist film Hell or High Water, from CBS Films and Lionsgate, continued to do nice business in its limited rollout, grossing $2.7 million as it expanded from 32 theaters into a total of 472 for an early domestic total of $3.5 million. Some of the movies this summer have gotten as much as 90 percent of their global box office totals from overseas, he said.
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In limited release, Focus World’s “A Tale of Love and Darkness” opened in two theaters, at Los Angeles’ Landmark and New York City’s Landmark Sunshine Cinema, to $36,000.
