Vin Diesel’s sci-fi romp Riddick has emerged victorious at the weekend box office.
Although analysts predicted the movie would generate around $20 million in ticket sales, the third installment of the franchise only managed to scrape together $18.6 million . However, this was enough scratch to push the film into the top position.
Director David Twohy’s sequel finds Vin Diesel tackling the role of Riddick once again. In the big guy’s latest cinematic adventure, the anti-hero and a team of bounty hunters must band together to face a horde of bloody-thirsty monsters on an alien world.
According to USA Today , the first weekend out of the summer season is always a little weak at the box office . This could explain why Riddick didn’t set the box office on fire when it landed in cinemas across the country last Friday (September 6).
“Kids are going back to school, football returns with a vengeance — stealing away time and attention of millions — and so studios refrain from releasing big movie,” Box Office Guru analyst Gitesh Pandya told the publication.
Although moviegoers may have avoided theaters in favor of other activities, quite a few people still paid top dollar to see Lee Daniels’ The Butler on the big screen. The movie might have been knocked out of the top spot, but it still managed to generate $8.9 million in receipts.
Rounding out this weekend’s top five are Instructions Not Included ($8.1 million), We’re the Millers ($7.9 million), and Planes ($4.2 million). It’s easy to see that the summer season has come to a close by looking at the rest of the top ten.
Unfortunately, next weekend’s offerings aren’t much stronger. In addition to James Wan’s Insidious: Chapter Two , the Robert De Niro comedy The Family , is headed to theaters. It could be a slow couple of weeks until studios begin releasing their Oscar contenders.
Here’s this weekend’s top ten movies. These figures are based on estimates.
1. Riddick – $18.6 million 2. Lee Daniels’ The Butler – $8.9 million 3. Instructions Not Included – $8.1 million 4. We’re the Millers – $7.9 million 5. Planes – $4.2 million 6. One Direction: This is Us – $4.1 million 7. Elysium – $3.1 million 8. Blue Jasmine – $2.6 million 9. Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters – $2.5 million 10. The World’s End – $2.3 million
Did you catch Vin Diesel’s Riddick in theaters over the weekend? Are you surprised that the film managed to climb its way into the top spot?
