Story highlights
"No Good Deed" opened at No. 1 this weekend
It bumped "Guardians of the Galaxy" from the top spot
The Marvel movie landed in third place
A tense thriller and a family-friendly sequel bumped “Guardians of the Galaxy” from the top of the weekend’s box office.
“No Good Deed,” starring Idris Elba and Taraji P. Henson, stormed to victory in its opening weekend, grossing an estimated $24.5 million at domestic theaters. That’s nearly twice what the thriller cost to make.
Elba plays an escaped murderer who arrives at Henson’s doorstep while her husband’s away and she’s taking care of her small children. A psychological and physical faceoff ensues in the first big-screen pairing of these two well-established actors.
“Dolphin Tale 2,” which also debuted over the weekend, continued this year’s trend of family-oriented sequels failing to perform as well as their predecessors. The latest “Dolphin” installment opened in second place with an estimated $16.6 million – more than 13% off the first film’s opening in 2011. Harry Connick Jr., Ashley Judd and Morgan Freeman all returned for the second helping of feel-good fare.
Meanwhile, “Guardians of the Galaxy” arrived in third place with an estimated $8 million. The latest Marvel movie has led the box office four of the past six weekends and has crossed $300 million on both the domestic and international charts.
Down the chart, the comedy “Let’s Be Cops” continues to be a winner for Fox: Its domestic haul of nearly $73 million is more than four times its production budget.
And a surprise in moderate release, “The Drop” made an estimated $4.2 million after opening in just 809 theaters over the weekend, giving the drama starring Tom Hardy and the late James Gandolfini the highest per-screen average in the top 10 except for “No Good Deed.”
Domestic weekend box office estimates are from Exhibitor Relations Co. (final numbers available Monday afternoon):
1. “No Good Deed” – $24.5 million (debut)
2. “Dolphin Tale 2” – $16.5 million (debut)
3. “Guardians of the Galaxy” – $8 million ($306 million total)
4. “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” – $4.8 million ($181 million total)
5. “Let’s Be Cops” – $4.3 million ($73 million total)