Straight Outta Compton wins the box office for a third weekend

Straight Outta Compton joins Jurassic World, Furious 7, and American Sniper as the only movies to top the box-office for at least three weekends this year.The biographical film of the rap group N.W.A. – Straight Outta Compton
– won its third weekend at the box office and has now set a record as the highest grossing biopic of a musician or group.
“Straight Outta Compton” finished Sunday with a domestic total of $134.1 million in the latest victory for Universal, which is enjoying the biggest year in history of any Hollywood studio at the global box office. The Tom Cruise-led spy film has now amassed $170.4 million domestically, which exceeds the estimated $150 million budget. It targeted the faith based audiences where it accumulated massive support from the Christian community.
The Southern Baptist North American Mission Board has linked its Evangelism Resource Center (ERC) prayer line to the War Room website, offering prayer at 888-537-8720, and through the FindItHere.com online chat.
“It’s our relationship with the faith-based audiences across the country that has allowed Sony Pictures to maintain its longevity and continued success at the forefront of this business, and we’re thrilled to see that continue with ‘War Room, ‘” Rich Peluso, senior vice president of Sony Pictures, said in a statement. This weekend, holdovers such as “Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation” and “Ant-Man” stayed in the top 10. Instead of debuting the film on 2,500 screens or more, as it would a typical wide-release, the studio launched it across 1,135 theaters that were heavily weighted toward the South and Midwest, where the populations are more religious.
This weekend’s haul also makes NWA’s film the highest grossing movie about hip-hop ever, beating out “8 Mile” by more than $17 million. War Room, a little-known Christian film, has shocked analysts by amassing an estimated and unpredicted $10.2 million. We’ve seen faith-based films in the past have modest success.
“No Escape, ” the Thailand thriller starring Owen Wilson and Lake Bell, opened with $8.3 million for the Weinstein Co. In just 2 weeks the sequel has amounted over $18.5 million at the domestic box-office. The brothers previously made the 2008 Kirk Cameron movie “Fireproof“, which made $33.5 million on a budget of half a million, and 2011’s “Courageous”, which grossed $34.5 million on $2 million. It opened Wednesday making $1.2M on 3,007 screens, and the Weinsteins add another 343 today.
Moviegoers had an overwhelmingly positive response toward the film, giving it an average A grade, according to audience polling firm CinemaScore.
Labor Day weekend, the last official weekend of the summer season, is expected to be slow with just two major new releases: “The Transporter Refueled” and “A Walk in the Woods“.
Despite taking another 50% hit in attendance, it’s no surprise that ‘Straight Outta Compton’ held onto the top spot for the third consecutive week.source:Bulletin