The wheels come off big- budget ‘ Ben- Hur’

Remake of classic takes epic box office whipping

Suicide Squad easily won the box office for the third week in a row, but all attention was focused on the extreme derailing of Ben- Hur.

Paramount and MGM’s saga directed by Timur Bekmambetov crashed to a $ 11.35 million opening weekend, barely finishing fifth, according to studio estimates. The wreck was compounded by an estimated production budget of $ 100 million.

Even with producers Mark Burnett and Roma Downey ( The Bible) and a sizable role for Jesus, Ben- Hur couldn’t attract faith- driven moviegoers to support the retelling of the 1959 classic, which won 11 Academy Awards, including best picture.

“This is the epic fail of the summer,” says Jeff Bock, senior box office analyst for Exhibitor Relations.

With Jack Huston playing the part of the betrayed nobleman turned slave seeking revenge ( and finding redemption) in the role made famous by Charlton Heston, critics were not impressed.

Ben- Hur earned a lowly 29% critical approval rating on the aggregation site RottenTomatoes.com, while audiences graded the drama an A- minus at

Cinema Score.

Suicide Squad continued its perch atop the box office in its third week, earning $ 20.7 million for a total of $ 262.3 million.

Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg’s Rrated animated comedy Sausage Party took second place in its second weekend with $ 15.3 million ( for a total of $ 65.3 million). The comedic drama War Dogs, starring Miles Teller and Jonah Hill as international arms dealers, opened third with $ 14.3 million.