Labor Day weekend is always a slow one for the box-office and this week was not an exception to the rule. In a completely unexpected turn of events, War Room, has risen from anonymity to the top spot in its second week of release. The religious based drama has gotten little national marketing, however a grassroots marketing effort has proven to work miracles for the little film. War Room made an additional $9.3 million dollars, while only losing 17% of the previous week’s audience. With a production budget of only $3 million dollars, this is proving to be one of the pound-for-pound biggest hits of the year.
After a three week run in first place, Straight Outta Compton narrowly got pushed to second. The dramatic biopic has blown away all industry expectations and projections, while it looks poised to cross the $150 million dollar total mark by week’s end. Over the past weekend, the film managed to add another $8.8 million dollars. The movie only lost 32% of its audience from the previous week also, which is a clear sign that the movie could be still selling tickets into October.
The biggest surprise was A Walk in the Woods cracking the top three in its first week of release. The Robert Redford and Nick Nolte dramedy managed to stir up nostalgia with audiences and debuted with $8.4 million dollars. It is always good to see older audience’s being represented at the box office and to see a couple of legends get a little bit of the spotlight again.
Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation refuses to let go of its deathgrip on the box-office charts. In its sixth week of release, the spy thriller added another $7.15 million dollars, narrowly edging out The Transporter Refueled by an estimated $20,000. Rogue Nation only lost 17% of the previous week’s audience who simply can’t get enough of the adventures of Ethan Hunt and the IMF gang.
On the other hand, the attempted reboot/sequel to The Transporter franchise was a complete disaster, with critics and in ticket sales. It is clear that the series missed the presence of Jason Statham and it never helps to make an overall disappointing movie. In its first week, it made an estimated $7.13 million dollars. When looking at how badly The Transporter Refueled, Hitman: Agent 47, and The Man From U.N.C.L.E., all tanked at the box-office in the past month. It’s hard to not attribute their collective demise, to the movies being exposed by the overall quality of Mission Impossible.
Here are the complete Box Office results from the weekend of September 4th-6th, 2015.
| TW | LW | Title (click to view) | Studio | Weekend Gross | % Change | Theater Count / Change | Average | Total Gross | Budget* | Week # | |
| 1 | 2 | War Room | TriS | $9,350,000 | -17.6% | 1,526 | +391 | $6,127 | $24,663,458 | $3 | 2 |
| 2 | 1 | Straight Outta Compton | Uni. | $8,850,000 | -32.6% | 3,097 | -45 | $2,858 | $147,785,705 | $28 | 4 |
| 3 | N | A Walk in the Woods | BG | $8,400,000 | – | 1,960 | – | $4,286 | $10,459,000 | – | 1 |
| 4 | 3 | Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation | Par. | $7,150,000 | -12.3% | 2,849 | -246 | $2,510 | $180,386,692 | $150 | 6 |
| 5 | N | The Transporter Refueled | EC | $7,130,000 | – | 3,434 | – | $2,076 | $7,130,000 | – | 1 |
| 6 | 4 | No Escape | Wein. | $5,445,000 | -32.9% | 3,415 | +60 | $1,594 | $18,446,079 | – | 2 |
| 7 | 6 | The Man From U.N.C.L.E. | WB | $3,445,000 | -22.3% | 2,102 | -604 | $1,639 | $39,374,148 | $75 | 4 |
| 8 | N | Un Gallo con Muchos Huevos | PNT | $3,400,000 | – | 395 | – | $8,608 | $3,400,000 | – | 1 |
| 9 | 5 | Sinister 2 | Focus | $3,377,000 | -27.6% | 2,651 | -148 | $1,274 | $23,717,000 | $10 | 3 |
| 10 | – | Inside Out | BV | $3,146,000 | +133.0% | 2,967 | +2,204 | $1,060 | $348,219,280 | $175 | 12 |
What did you catch over the weekend? Was it any good? Let us know on the comment boards, , , and !
Source: Box Office Mojo