'Magnificent Seven' debuts strong on domestic box office

PanARMENIAN.Net - "The Magnificent Seven" has a magnificent debut. The remake of Antoine Fuqua's 1960 western movie of the same name, which in turn was based on Akira Kurosawa's 1954 "Seven Samurai", opens at No. 1 on North American box office with an estimated $35 million, AceShowbiz reports.

The solid debut gives star Denzel Washington and director Antoine Fuqua one of the biggest opening weekends of their careers. Washington's previous biggest opening is 2007's "American Gangster" ($43.6 million), followed by 2012's "Safe House" ($40.2 million). As for Fuqua, his previous biggest opening was "The Equalizer" ($34.1 million).

Still, the movie which also stars Chris Pratt, Vincent D'Onofrio, Lee Byung Hun, Martin Sensmeier, Manuel Garcia-Rulfi and Haley Bennett has a long way to go to recoup its hefty $90 million budget.

"It's great to have a movie with Denzel Washington and Chris Pratt in it. They are proven stars and just so winning, especially together," says Sony worldwide president of marketing and distribution Josh Greenstein. Scoring an A- grade from audiences on CinemaScore, the movie lured mostly audiences over the age of 25 (67%), with male making up 56% of the total ticket buyers.

Warner Bros.' animated "Storks" didn't give "The Magnificent Seven" much competition. The comedy, which boasts star-studded voice cast including Andy Samberg, Ty Burrell, Jennifer Aniston, Kelsey Grammer, Jordan Peele and Keegan-Michael Key, comes in No. 2 with a modest $21.8 million.

Warner's domestic distribution chief Jeff Goldstein comments on the movie's performance, "It really delivered to a very young age group. The prime audience was between the ages of five and 10."

The rest of the top 5 see holdovers. "Sully" descends to No. 3 with an estimated $13.8 million. "Bridget Jones's Baby" is down one place to No. 4 with additional $4.5 million, but it remains strong overseas with $21.9 million to top international box office. "Snowden" drops to No. 5 following its weak debut at No. 4 last week, adding approximately $4.1 million to its domestic cume.