Miss Peregrine’s Home Debuts in First

Twentieth Century Fox’s family fantasy film Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children topped the box office last weekend (Sept. 30-Oct. 2) with a $28.87 million debut.

Twentieth Century Fox’s Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children finished on top at the box office last weekend with a $28.87 million debut. (Photo: Jay Maidment/20th Century Fox).

The movie, which stars Asa Butterfield and Eva Green, is about a group of kids with special powers who are forced to live the same day over and over again for eternity. The film opens 7.5 percent ahead of the $26.85 million start of Alice Through the Looking Glass and 22.3 percent ahead of the $23.61 million opening of Goosebumps. Director Tim Burton declined to direct this summer’s sequel Alice Through the Looking Glass to lead this project instead, and at least from a box office standpoint that’s looking like the right decision so far.

Lionsgate’s disaster movie Deepwater Horizon came in second place with a $20.22 million opening. Mark Wahlberg plays a real-life electrician aboard the oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico that exploded in 2010. Analysts expected the film to contend with holdover The Magnificent Seven for second place, but it delivered the runner-up position decisively with a lead of more than $4 million. Still, Deepwater Horizon starts 42.3 percent behind the $35.02 million start of last month’s disaster film Sully and 46.1 percent behind the $37.54 million wide release opening of fellow Wahlberg disaster film Lone Survivor.

MGM/Columbia Pictures’ Western The Magnificent Seven went from first place the previous weekend to third place last weekend with $15.62 million. That 52.0 percent second-weekend drop was steeper than the 45.1 percent for Denzel Washington’s previous action film The Equalizer and the 33.6 percent for fellow Western Django Unchained, although it was less than the 60.6 percent fall for 2013’s The Lone Ranger. The Magnificent Seven has earned $61.53 million to date.

Relativity’s crime comedy Masterminds had a disappointing debut with a $6.54 million opening. Starring Zach Galifianakis and Kristen Wiig as bank robbers, the film was unable to overcome its weak reviews.

Elsewhere at the box office, after opening the previous weekend in limited release, Walt Disney Studios’ Queen of Katwe expanded into wide release last weekend with $2.49 million. The film about a Nigerian chess prodigy starring Lupita Nyong’o and David Oyelowo has received excellent reviews, indicating potential staying power.

Mark Heckathorn

Editor-in-Chief Mark Heckathorn is a journalist, movie buff and foodie. He oversees DC on Heels editorial operations as well as strategic planning and staff development. Reach him with story ideas or suggestions at dcoheditor (at) gmail (dot) com.