'Don't Breathe' tops box office again over Labor Day weekend

The horror thriller, Don't Breathe, topped the box office for the second straight week, while several new releases struggled to find traction over a typically sleepy Labor Day weekend at North American movie theatres.

The Sony Screen Gems release made an estimated US$15.7 million in its second weekend, according to studio estimates Sunday. The R-rated Don't Breathe, about an ill-considered home invasion of a blind man, is on pace to make US$19.4 million over the four-day holiday weekend. Produced for just US$10 million, the film has made US$51.1 million in total.

Its success spelled doom for the other horror film trying to gain a foothold: Morgan, a low-budget science-fiction thriller directed by Ridley Scott's son, Luke Scott. Opening on more than 2,000 screens, it bombed with just US$2 million.

Also torpedoed was the Robert De Niro-Edgar Ramirez boxing drama, Hands of Stone, about Panamanian boxer Robert Duran. It made just US$1.3 million while expanding to 2,011 theatres, marking the latest in a string of disappointments for the Weinstein Co.

The DreamWorks drama, The Light Between the Oceans, starring Michael Fassbender and Alicia Vikander, debuted with a modest US$5 million a day after it premiered at the Venice Film Festival. The period film, directed by Derek Cianfrance, stars the real-life couple as newly-weds living at a remote Australian lighthouse. Its budget was about US$20 million.

The poor-performing new releases enabled Warner Bros' Suicide Squad to hold second place at the box office with US$10 million. Despite rough reviews, the supervillain team-up film has shown decent legs in theatres, making nearly US$300 million domestically.

Monday will mark the end of Hollywood's summer. According to comScore, the season will come in almost exactly tied with last year's US$4.5 billion. Despite a rash of underperforming sequels and a number of high-profile disappointments , the overall box office is stable.

Heading into a fall that includes some seemingly surefire blockbusters such as Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, Doctor Strange and Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, the 2016 box office is running 5.7 per cent ahead of last year.

Here are estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at US theatres, according to comScore. Where available, the latest international numbers for Friday through Sunday are also included:

1. Don't Breathe, US$15.7 million (US$5.3 million international).

2. Suicide Squad, $10 million (US$11.8 million international).

3. Pete's Dragon, US$6.5 million (US$3.3 million international).

4. Kubo and the Two Strings, US$6.5 million (US$1.7 million international).

5. Sausage Party, US$5.3 million (US$4.6 million international).

6. The Light Between Oceans, US$5 million.

7. Bad Moms, US$4.7 million (US$5 million international).

8. War Dogs, US$4.7 million (US$3.6 million international).

9. Hell or High Water, US$4.5 million.

10. Mechanic: Resurrection, US$4.3 million (US$7.6 million international).

- AP