"Don't Breathe," Sony's low-budget horror thriller has topped the box office for the second straight week as the summer movie season closed out over a typically Labour Day weekend. Several other new releases struggled to find traction at famous North American movie theaters.
The Sony Screen Gems release collected an estimated US$15.7 million (S$21.3 million) in United States and Canadian cinemas during its second weekend, according to studio estimates Sunday.
According to News Miner, the R-rated "Don't Breathe," about an ill-considered home invasion of a blind man, is on pace to make $19.4 million over for just the four-day holiday weekend. The film produced for just $10 million, has made $51.1 million in total, researcher ComScore said on Sunday.
"Don't Breathe" will hit nearly US$55 million in its first 11 days and is already in profit for Sony, thanks to its price tag of less than US$10 million.
Its success was a doom to "Morgan," a low-budget science-fiction thriller trying to get a foothold. The horror film is directed by Ridley Scott's son, Luke Scott and with openings on more than 2,000 screens, it has bombed just $2 million only.
Robert De Niro-Edgar Ramirez boxing drama "Hands of Stone," which is about Panamanian boxer Robert Duran was also torpedoed. "Hands of Stone" made just $1.3 million while expanding to 2,011 theaters. This marked the latest in a string of disappointments for the Weinstein Co.
The DreamWorks drama, "The Light Between the Oceans," with Alicia Vikander and Michael Fassbender as the stars, debuted with a modest $5 million daily after it appeared at the Venice Film Festival. The film which is directed by Derek Cianfrance with for a budget a of about $20 million, stars the real-life couple as newlyweds living at a remote Australian lighthouse.
As a result of the poor performing new release, Warner Bros' "Suicide Squad" showed an impressive stay power as it held the second place at the box with about US$13.6 million for the weekend. The supervillain team film has shown decent moves in theaters, making nearly $300 million domestically despite rough reviews, Straits Times reported.
The Labour Day weekend sounded a brighter note at the end of a tough summer for Hollywood comparing it with other holidays. For the first three days, its revenue rose about 12 per cent from a year earlier.
Watch "Don't Breathe" official trailer here: