By Tre’vell Anderson | Los Angeles Times
WARNER Bros.’s The Accountant outperformed two fellow new releases, Universal’s Kevin Hart: What Now? and Open Road’s Max Steel, and holdovers to overtake the weekend box office.
The Accountant pulled in an estimated $24.7 million in the United States and Canada, meeting analyst expectations of $20 million to $25 million. Internationally, the film grossed an estimated $2.8 million. With a total gross to date this weekend of more than $27 million worldwide, Warner Bros. is happy, especially considering the studio projected a more modest bow of $15 million to $20 million.
“This is such a big win,” said Jeff Goldstein, the studio’s distribution chief. “The story is compelling, and audiences responded.”
The film stars Ben Affleck as an autistic CPA with assassin-like abilities whose secret freelance work for criminal organizations draws the attention of someone in the US Treasury Department, played by J.K. Simmons. The movie was directed by Gavin O’Connor, who is best known for the 2011 mixed-martial arts drama Warrior. Anna Kendrick and Jeffrey Tambor also star.
This is a solid start for a movie that cost about $40 million to make, and audiences seem pleased with the product. Moviegoers (58 percent male, 68 percent over 35) gave the picture an “A” CinemaScore. Film critics, however, were less stoked with the movie, which received a 51-percent positive rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Such a performance bodes well for Affleck and the studio, demonstrating the continued strength of his star power. He also had roles in Warner’s DC Comics franchises, such as Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and Justice League.
“We’re in the Ben Affleck business, and we’re proud of it,” Goldstein said.
Meanwhile, comedian Hart again proved his ability to generate profits with his latest stand-up concert movie, What Now? Garnering an estimated $12 million, the picture just failed analyst projections of $13 million to $15 million, but still can be counted as a success for Hart as it performed better than his last stand-up flick.
“It’s great,” said Nick Carpou, Universal’s president of domestic distribution. “We love Kevin Hart, and apparently, so does North America.”
Costing almost $14 million to produce, which Hart funded himself, the film was taped during his tour stop at Philadelphia’s Lincoln Financial Field, filled with 53,000 people. In a 15-minute cinematic prelude to the stand-up act, Hart plays a James Bond-esque character who must fight off a villain to make it to his gig. That part of the movie stars Halle Berry, Don Cheadle and Ed Helms.
What Now? is pacing ahead of Hart’s 2013 stand-up hit, Let Me Explain, from Lionsgate, which grossed $32 million domestically.
It’s also yet another demonstration of the comedian’s marketing prowess as one of Hollywood’s most reliably bankable stars.
Those who saw the concert film gave it an “A-” CinemaScore, while it has a 78-percent positive rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
What Now? is the fourth film this year alone where Universal has partnered with the star. And every other movie has been a box-office success—Ride Along 2 grossed $90.9 domestically, Central Intelligence (in partnership with Warner Bros.) pulled in $127.4 million and Secret Life of Pets took in $365.5 million. “He is a comedic star and has earned his star power,” Carpou said. “It’s great to be a part of it.”
Coming in third place was last week’s victor, Universal’s The Girl on the Train, adding an additional $12 million to its gross. The dark Emily Blunt movie has brought in $46.6 million domestically to date.
Fox’s Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children landed in fourth place in its third week with $8.9 million. The Tim Burton-directed flick has grossed $65.8 million.
Rounding out the top 5 is Lionsgate’s Deepwater Horizon with $6.4 million. It’s grossed $49.3 million domestically in three weeks.
Following what some have called a disappointing $7-million debut the previous week, Fox Searchlight’s The Birth of a Nation added an additional $2.7 million to its gross over the weekend, only good for a 10th-place finish. That’s a 61-percent drop week to week, evidence that the studio’s hope for strong word of mouth is faltering. Over the course of its first 10 days, the film, whose writer, director, producer and star, Nate Parker, has been recently involved in controversy surrounding an old rape case, has garnered only $12.2 million.
New release Max Steel, a PG-13 science-fiction action movie based on the Mattel line of action figures, distributed by Open Road, bombed with $2.2 million. It failed to meet analyst expectations of $5 million to $7 million, becoming the second lowest opening for a wide release this year, behind Fox’s Morgan. Audience members gave the picture a “B” CinemaScore, but critics didn’t enjoy the film at all. Out of the eight reviews on Rotten Tomatoes, the picture has a 0-percent positive rating.
On the limited-release front, STX Entertainment’s thriller Desierto finally opened after a seven-month delay. On 73 screens, the migration tale from Jonas and Alfonso Cuaron, the acclaimed filmmakers of Gravity, pulled in $450,000, for a per-screen average of $6,164.
Desierto is an immigration tale that follows Moises, played by Gael Garcia Bernal, who, after living in Oakland, California, without proper immigration documents, is deported to Mexico after being detained for a parking violation.
In an effort to rejoin his family, carrying the stuffed bear he promised to return to his son, he crosses the US border on foot with a group of others seeking the American dream. Their lives, however, are threatened by a Confederate flag-toting racist (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) taking border patrol into his own hands—with his hunting dog and shotgun in tow.
The Spanish-language film (with English subtitles) was acquired out of 2015’s Toronto film festival for about $1.5 million and is Mexico’s official entry for the foreign language Oscar at next year’s Academy Awards.
This week Halloween-themed pictures take over the box office with Lionsgate’s Boo! A Madea Halloween and Universal’s Ouija: Origin of Evil. Joining that group will be Paramount’s Jack Reacher: Never Go Back and the studio’s comedy Keeping Up With the Joneses.