MGM and Columbia’s “The Magnificent Seven” topped the box office this weekend with an estimated $35 million from 3,674 locations.
The Western, featuring an all-star cast led by Chris Pratt and Denzel Washington, has a 64 percent Rotten Tomatoes score and also an A- CinemaScore (from audiences surveyed on opening night).
It topped the debuts of other recent movies in the genre: “Django Unchained” opened to $30 million, “True Grit” debuted to $24 million and “The Lone Ranger” lassoed $29 million when it launched in theaters — the last widely-released PG-13 film in the category before “The Magnificent Seven.”
Following the division’s debut 2014 hit “The Lego Movie,” Warner Animation Group’s sophomore outing “Storks” grossed an estimated $21.8 million this weekend after industry tracking was adjusted lower than the mid-to-high 30s predicted earlier in the week.
It earned a 62 percent Rotten Tomatoes score and an A- CinemaScore.
The animated feature was made for $70 million, and is playing in 3,922 locations. It has also opened in 33 international markets this weekend, including China, Russia and Brazil — which will add grosses on top of its aforementioned domestic tally.
Featuring Andy Samberg, Kelsey Grammer, Jennifer Aniston, Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele in the voice cast, the movie chronicles the challenges of one final baby delivery mistakenly assigned to the storks after they have moved into durable goods deliveries.
WAG’s goal is to put out a movie per year, as its future slate includes: “The Lego Batman Movie,” due in theaters on Feb. 10; “The Lego Ninjago Movie,” coming out Sept. 22 of next year; “Smallfoot,” set for a Feb. 9, 2018 release; and “The Lego Movie Sequel,” in theaters Feb. 8, 2019, with several more to follow.
Meanwhile, Warner Bros.’ true-life tale “Sully” continued to fly high as the Tom Hanks disaster film cleared an estimated $13.8 million for third place in its third weekend, brining its domestic total to $92.4 million.
Rounding out the top five were Universal’s “Bridget Jones’s Baby,” coming in fourth place with $4.5 million, and Open Road’s “Snowden” with $4.1 million.
Off a string of hits with “The Shallows,” “Don’t Breathe” and “Sausage Party,” the opening numbers for “The Magnificent Seven” came as good news to Sony.
“Audiences will be coming back in theaters for a long time,” said Rory Bruer, president of worldwide distribution at Sony, citing the film’s high CinemaScore. “Denzel Washington is still just as cool, relevant and fresh as ever — whether you’re young, old, male or female — they love the guy. The same is true of Chris Pratt for that matter,” Bruer told TheWrap on Sunday, speaking to both actors’ star power at the box office.
Both “Storks” and “The Magnificent Seven” were generating a good amount of social buzz, according to comScore’s PreAct tool. The Western represents nearly 16,000 new conversations online in the past week, with a cumulative total of more than 90,000. WAG’s animated feature inspired more than 11,000 social media mentions in the past week, with an overall total of nearly 65,000.
Representing more than 170,000 new conversations, the top movie this past week, however, is “Fifty Shades Darker” — due to the recent release of a new trailer and poster. That’s followed by “Moana,” “Rogue One” and then this weekend’s Pratt movie in the No. 4 spot. “Storks” is No. 6, just behind “Nocturnal Animals.”
Antoine Fuqua directed “The Magnificent Seven,” a new take on the classic story about seven outlaws assigned to protect a vulnerable town. Aside from Pratt and Washington, it also stars Peter Sarsgaard, Ethan Hawke, Haley Bennett, Vincent D’Onofrio, Byung-Hun Lee, Manuel Garcia-Rulfo, Matt Bomer and Martin Sensmeier.
Produced for $90 million, it was co-financed with LStar Capital and Village Roadshow Pictures.
The Top Five:
1. “The Magnificent Seven” (Sony) — $35 million in Week 1 ($35 million total)
2. “Storks” (Warner Bros.) — $21.8 million in Week 1 ($21.8 million total)
3. “Sully” (Warner Bros.) — $13.8 million in Week 3 ($92.4 million total)
4. “Bridget Jones’s Baby” (Universal) — $4.5 million in Week 2 ($16.5 million total)
5. “Snowden” (Open Road) — $4.1 million in Week 2 ($15.1 million total)