Weekend Box Office Report: ‘The Maze Runner’ Outpaces Liam Neeson’s ‘A Walk Among the Tombstones’
Young adult movies are big business. 'The Maze Runner' took over the box office this weekend, proving that the audience for films were young people in science fiction dystopias are forced into violent and terrible predicaments extends beyond the 'Hunger Games' franchise.
| Film | Weekend | Per Screen | ||
| 1 | The Maze Runner | $32,500,000 | $9.018 | $32,500,000 |
| 2 | A Walk Among the Tombstones | $13,126,000 | $4,840 | $13,126,000 |
| 3 | This is Where I Leave You | $11,860,000 | $4,135 | $11,860,000 |
| 4 | No Good Deed | $10,200,000 (-57.9) | $4,690 | $40,110,000 |
| 5 | Dolphin Tale 2 | $9,005,000 (-42.2) | $2,463 | $27,070,000 |
| 6 | Guardians of the Galaxy | $5,180,000 (-36.1) | $1,820 | $313,669,000 |
| 7 | Let's Be Cops | $2,650,000 (-38.9) | $1,157 | $77,196,000 |
| 8 | Teenage Mutant Ninja turtles | $2,650,000 (-45.4) | $1,129 | $185,018,000 |
| 9 | The Drop | $2,050,000 (-50.1) | $1,720 | $7,690,000 |
| 10 | I I Stay | $1,835,000 (-53.4) | $774 | $47,672,000 |
With $32 million grossed over the opening weekend, 'The Maze Runner' isn't a 'Hunger Games' or 'Twilight'-sized hit, but it's respectable, especially for a September release. With little competition coming in the next few weeks, it should continue to dominate the box office for the rest of the month. The big question now is if it has a chance at $100 million. Maybe? Possibly?
In second place, Liam Neeson's 'A Walk Among the Tombstones' failed to do 'Taken' numbers, opening with a weak $13 million. The film's lack of marketing and the fact that it's a drama being promoted as an action movie are the most likely culprits to blame here. Neeson will recover with the inevitable 'Taken 3.'
In third place, 'This is Where I Leave You' also arrived with a shrug, taking in a disappointing $11 million, which is one million for every movie star on the poster. This is the kind of movie that, if released in another month with the proper marketing push, could have been a sleeper hit. As a September dump, it never had a chance.
Last week's champion, 'No Good Deed,' plummeted to fourth place, dropping 57% for a $10 million second weekend. The film is going to be profitable, but anyone hoping for this one to spring to truly impressive numbers will be disappointed. 'Dolphin Tale 2' also took a steep drop, settling into fifth place with $9 million.
However, things pick up in the sixth slot, where 'Guardians of the Galaxy' reached $313 million officially surpassing 'Iron Man 2' at the Marvel box office pantheon. That's huge.
In the final stretch, 'Let's Be Cops,' 'Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles,' 'The Drop' and 'If I Stay' took advantage of the dead multiplexes to hang around for another week, but all of them are just about ready to end their runs. Don't expect to see some of these hanging around next week.
