Ben Affleck’s action thriller ‘The Accountant’ scored $24.7 million over the weekend to take the #1 spot. This marked one of his highest openings in this genre, trailing just behind 2014’s ‘Gone Girl’ which opened with $37.5M and topping ‘The Town’ ($23.8M) and ‘Argo’ ($19.5M). The film didn’t impress critics, with a 50% ranking on Rotten Tomatoes, but audiences are impressed, giving it an A CinemaScore, which should translate to strong buzz and legs over the next few weeks. The film was directed by Gavin O’Connor and co-stars Anna Kendrick and J.K. Simmons. Simmons, of course, will re-team with Affleck when he assumes the role of Commissioner Gordon in ‘Justice League’ next year.
Standup concert film ‘Kevin Hart: What Now?’ delivered $11.984M, an impressive number for a film of this type. This was the highest grossing of Hart’s three standup films, besting ‘Let Me Explain’ and ‘Laugh At My Pain’, but that is without their grosses being adjusted for inflation.
‘What Now?’ barely edged out last week’s top film, ‘The Girl On The Train’ which slipped to #3 with $11.975M. ‘Miss Peregrine’s Home For Peculiar Children’ is fading here in the US, coming in at #4 with $8.9M, but the movie has crossed $130M internationally. ‘Deepwater Horizon’ closes out the Top Five, taking in $6.35M.
- The Accountant (Warner Brothers) $24.7M
- Kevin Hart: What Now? (Universal) $11.984M
- The Girl On The Train (Universal/Dreamworks) $11.975M
- Miss Peregrine’s Home For Peculiar Children (20th Century Fox) $8.9
- Deepwater Horizon (Lionsgate) $6.35M
Open Road’s ‘Max Steel’ based on the basically forgotten action figure line was scrap metal, barely eking out $2.1M making it one of the biggest flops ever, barely topping duds like ‘Morgan’ ($2M), ‘We Are Your Friends’ ($1.76M), ‘Rock the Kasbah’ and ‘Jem and the Holograms’ ($1.37M). ‘Max Steel’ hasn’t been a force in the toy aisles since the early 2000s and was never a phenomenon in the first place. Mattel hoped to use the movie to relaunch the toys, but don’t expect that to happen now.
Next week, will Tom Cruise’s return in ‘Jack Reacher: Never Go Back’ out-muscle ‘The Accountant’? Possibly. If you prefer your action sprinkled with comedy, there’s ‘Keeping Up With The Joneses’ with Zach Galifianakis (whose track record is hit-or-miss), Jon Hamm (who has yet to prove his strength as a film star) and ‘Wonder Woman’ herself, Gal Gadot in her first movie since ‘Batman V Superman’.
If you’re looking to get into the Halloween spirit, you have two major options. ‘Ouija: Origin of Evil’ should provide true scares, while ‘Boo! A Madea Halloween’ offers a comedic spin.
Who do you think will come out on top?
Source: Deadline
