UPDATED: "Lee Daniels' The Butler" stays high up on the chart, coming in No. 2 in its fourth weekend and crossing the $90 million mark; "Salinger" scores the best opening for a documentary in nearly 18 months.
TORONTO -- Vin Diesel's Riddick
topped the domestic box office as the fall season got underway,
grossing a solid $18.7 million.
Prerelease tracking had suggested the male-fueled threequel would
open north of $20 million, although Universal was more conservative in
its estimate. The first film in the series, Pitch Black, opened
to $11.6 million in February 2000, while The Chronicles of Riddick
debuted to notably more in June 2004, earning $24.3 million in its
debut.
Diesel now owns the rights to the Riddick
character, an intergalactic ex-con who can see in the dark. Riddick
was independently financed for $38 million, with Universal picking up U.S.
distribution rights. The studio also released the first two films in
the franchise.
The weekend after Labor Day is always sluggish in terms of
moviegoing. Riddick helped drive revenue up 24 percent over the same
weekend a year ago. And Imax theaters saw big returns, contributing $2.5
million of the total gross from 314 locations. Males and Hispanics made
up a large percentage of the overall audience (59 percent and 37
percent, respectively).
"Face it, this is never a great weekend. I was hoping Riddick
would get to $20 million, but this is a great result," said Universal's
distribution chief Nikki Rocco.
In the latest outing, Riddick
is left for dead on a hostile planet and grows ever stronger as he
fights off his enemies. The movie also stars Jordi
Molla,
Matt Nable,
Katee
Sackhoff,
Dave Bautista, Bokeem
Woodbine, Raoul
Trujillo, Nolan Gerard Funk and Karl
Urban.
Riddick
opens in 22 international markets this weekend, including the U.K.
and Hong Kong.
Lee Daniels' The Butler continues to do strong business as
it heads into its fourth outing, coming in No. 2 and grossing $8.9
million. The historical drama, released by The Weinstein Co. and
starring Forest Whitaker and Oprah Winfrey,
has now earned $91.9 million in North America.
New Line's R-rated comedy We're the Millers continued to
chug along, coming in No. 3 with $7.9 million and pushing its total to
$123.8 million.
Spanish-language film Instructions Not Included grossed $8.1
million as it expanded into more than 700 theaters. From Pantelion and
Lionsgate, the comedy has now earned a strong $20.3 million.
At the specialty box office, TWC's Salinger opened to a
strong $90,969 from four theaters in New York and Los Angeles for a
location average of $22,742 -- the best since The Bully nearly
18 months ago. Bully, likewise released by TWC, opened to
$116,472 from six theaters for a location average of $23,294.
Directed by Shane Salerno, Salinger was
likely boosted by its high-profile premiere over Labor Day weekend at
the Telluride Film Festival.
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