BOX OFFICE: ‘SULLY’ LANDS SAFELY AT No. 1

Sourced from Boxofficemojo.com

Clint Eastwood’s early Awards contender, Sully, became the fifth highest September opening ever over the weekend with an impressive $35 million haul domestically. The real life drama was also the first live-action film starring Tom Hanks to debut at number 1 in seven years, making it a cause for celebration for Warners, Eastwood and his star alike. There was little doubt of its success going into the weekend as high profile adult fare had been in short supply in theaters for some time now (apparently, 80% of its audience was 35 and over) and the real life subject matter of the famous emergency landing in the Hudson river was bound to pique attention along with the quality of talent involved. With good word of mouth and generally glowing reviews, it’s more than possible that Sully could land itself somewhere in the region of $150 million by the end of its run.

Following up Sully in a distant second was another debutant, Screen Gem’s thriller When the Bough Breaks, which took a healthy $15 million on just a $10 million production budget. Following up on the heels of Screen Gem’s previous release Don’t Breathe, the studio sure knows how to turn a modest budget into a handsome return; however, When the Bough Breaks is still devoid of a consensus score on RT.com and as such shouldn’t expect much in the way of revenue over the upcoming weeks.

While Don’t Breathe and Suicide Squad fell to 3rd and 4th respectively with both releases taking approximately 45% drop offs, Lionsgate’s animated pick-up The Wild Life disappointed slightly on its opening as it only just makes this weekend’s top 5 with $3.5 million. Hopes weren’t exactly high for the picture and perhaps Lionsgate had hoped for a lack of family fare during this period but they seemingly didn’t count on the staying power of Kubo and the Two Strings and Pete’s Dragon since The Wild Life fell somewhat short of its $5 million target.

Still, at least The Wild Life didn’t suffer the indignity of a wide release failing to make the top 10, unlike Relativity’s  The Disappointment Room. The horror flick starring Kate Beckinsale certainly lived up to its name at least as it only managed to scare up a measly $1.4 million and finished the weekend in 17th position.

Elsewhere, Hell and High Water suffered from Sully‘s overwhelming engagement with adult audiences to drop by 40% after its heartening wide release last week but STX’s Bad Moms continued its ascent to sleeper hit status as it remains in the top 10 after 7 weeks and looks set to be one of the most successful comedies this year, though no doubt the return of a certain Bridget Jones will have something to say about that next week.