1. Straight Outta Compton- $13.2M/$134.1M
2. War Room- $11M
It was a relatively weak crop of new releases, but even so this is a huge debut for War Room, a faith-based drama from Alex Kendrick. This is Kendrick's fifth movie and he's found equal success before with Fireproof (yes, that Kirk Cameron flick) and Courageous, so clearly he's tapping into a niche dying to be catered to. The big difference this time is that War Room's cast is largely African-American and the storyline deals with the issue of racial tension, obviously a hot-button topic anytime but especially right now.
3. Mission: Impossible- Rogue Nation- $8.3M/$170.3M
4. No Escape (review here)- $8.2M/$10.3M
Not even James Bond could lift No Escape to the top of the new releases this week. The Pierce Brosnan/Owen Wilson action flick opened on Wednesday and earned $10.3M over five days. Critics have been pretty savage against the film because it's politics are...well, let's just say they're very old school. The film does feel like a relic of the Red Dawn era or something, and maybe that causes audiences to steer clear. This doesn't hurt Weinstein any as the film only cost them $5M, anyway.
5. Sinister 2- $4.6M/$18.5M
6. The Man from UNCLE- $4.4M/$34.1M
7. Hitman: Agent 47- $3.8M/$15.2M
8. The Gift- $3.13M/$35.9M
9. Jurassic World- $3.12/$643M
10.Ant-Man- $3M/$169.1M
So wait, wasn't there another new release this week? Zac Efron's DJ drama We Are Your Friends couldn't find the beat, opening at over 2300 theaters and earned $1.8M, which is about as epic a fail as one can get for a major release.
