As expected,The Perfect Guywas the top draw at this weekend’s box office. The Sony/Screen Gems thriller earned an estimated $26.7 million from 2,211 locations, or $12,000 per screen. That’s a strong debut for a film that cost just $12 million – and especially strong considering that early projections had the film opening closer to $20 million. Then again, in recent years Screen Gems has carved out a nice niche for themselves with modestly budgeted romantic thrillers with African American leads, so their latest success should come as no surprise.
Back in 2009 the studio releasedObsessed, withIdris ElbaandBeyoncé. That film became a surprise hit after opening in first place with $28.6 million – more than doubling expectations at the time.Obsessedwas followed byNo Good Deed, anotherFatal Attraction-style thriller, in 2014. With Elba again in the lead (oppositeTaraji P. Henson),No Good Deedtook first place with a debut of $24.2 million on this same weekend last year.
The Perfect Guyopened 10% ahead ofNo Good Deedand 6% behindObsessed. In the long-term, that suggests a domestic total of at least $55 million. And audiences seem to likeThe Perfect Guya bit more thanNo Good Deed, with a CinemaScore of A- compared to the latter’s B+. Critics haven’t been quite as kind, based onThe Perfect Guy’s 33% Rotten Tomato score. Still, this is a solid win for Sony and Screen Gems – not to mention a milestone for fans of diversity in filmmaking. FollowingStraight Outta ComptonandWar Room,The Perfect Guymarks five consecutive frames that movies with primarily African American casts have held the top spot at the box office. As far as I can tell, that is a unique accomplishment (at least based on multiple titles rather than just one, likeBeverly Hills Cop), but if anyone knows otherwise feel free to share.
This weekend’s biggest surprise was delivered byThe Visit. ThoughFriday estimateshad the low budget horror pic neck and neck withThe Perfect Guy,The Visitwas expected to decline a bit on Saturday – in the manner of most films of its genre. Instead, directorM Night Shyamalan’s latest feature wound up just barely in second place with an estimated $25.6 million from 3,069 locations. That’s close to whatSinister 2has earned in its entire four-week run. LikeThe Visit,Sinister 2was produced by horror impresarioJason Blum. But becauseThe Visitcost just $5 million before marketing, it is clearly the bigger success.
The last of this weekend’s new releases, faith-based90 Minutes in Heaven, just barely made it into the top ten. An adaptation of the best-selling book of the same name,90 Minutes in Heavenearned an estimated $2.16 million from 878 locations, or $2,461 per screen. Even with the Christian competition,War Roomproved the bigger draw. Last weekend’s top title was down just 22% in its third weekend, claiming a per-screen average of almost $4,500.
Overall box office earnings were up by approximately 6% over last week’s depressed Labor Day frame. That upward trend should extend into next weekend, whenMaze Runner: The Scorch TrialsandBlack Masshit theatres. One year ago, the originalMaze Runnerreached $32.5 million in its debut. That was considered a bit underwhelming at the time, thoughThe Scorch Trialswill make up for that if it reaches the $45 million that is expected.Black Massis playing for (a distant) second. The story of mobster Whitey Bulger, starringJohnny Depp,should hit $20 million – unless thereviewscatch up with it first.
Here’s this weekend’s top ten, based on studio estimates:
The Perfect Guy
$26,700,000
$25,600,000
$7,400,000
A Walk in the Woods
$4,620,000
Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation
$4,150,000
Straight Outta Compton
$4,090,000
$2,879,000
The Transporter Refueled
$2,700,000
90 Minutes in Heaven
$2,161,000
Un Gallo Con Muchos Huevos
$1,900,000
