Magnificent Seven rides away with $35M debut
Movie stars don’t open movies anymore? Tell that to Denzel Washington and Tom Hanks.
The pair, once co-stars in Philadelphia, have together dominated the last three weeks of the box office. After Clint Eastwood’s Miracle on the Hudson docudrama Sully, starring Hanks as Captain Chesley Sullenberger, topped ticket sales of the last two weeks, The Magnificent Seven rode Washington’s star power to an estimated $35 million (U.S.) debut over the weekend, according to studio estimates Sunday.
Eastwood is himself a draw, and the ensemble of The Magnificent Seven most notably includes Chris Pratt, a potential heir apparent to Washington and Hanks. But Washington and Hanks ranked as the overwhelming reason audiences went to see either movie, according to comScore’s survey of moviegoers.
“They are the model of consistency and they are the model of quality,” said Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst for comScore. “These are guys who can draw a huge audience in any type of movie that they’re in. It’s not like they’re pigeonholed into one kind of franchise. Denzel Washington can be part of a genre, the western, that doesn’t exactly have teenagers scrambling to the movie theatre.”
Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theatres, according to comScore. Where available, the latest international numbers for Friday through Sunday are also included. Final domestic figures will be released Tuesday. 1. The Magnificent Seven, $35 million. 2. Storks, $21.8 million. 3. Sully, $13.8 million. 4. Bridget Jones’s Baby, $4.5 million. 5. Snowden, $4.1 million. 6. Blair Witch, $4 million. 7. Don’t Breathe, $3.8 million. 8. Suicide Squad, $3.1 million. 9. When the Bough Breaks, $2.5 million. 10. Kubo and the Two Strings, $1.1 million.