Weekend Box Office Report: September 9-11, 2016

Last Updated on July 31, 2021

Sully lands safely on top!

The story of a miraculous emergency plane landing was the main attraction for moviegoers this weekend, putting SULLY in first place at the box office with an estimated $35.5 million!

Behind the ballistic $89.2 million that AMERICAN SNIPER made on its first weekend in wide release, SULLY marks the second-best opening for director Clint Eastwood.

As for star Tom Hanks, playing real-life pilot Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger provided his third-highest live-action opening weekend after Dan Brown adaptations THE DA VINCI CODE ($77 million) and ANGELS & DEMONS ($46.4 million). (Voicing Woody for Pixar's TOY STORY 3 remains the actor's highest debut with $110 million.)

Eastwood's account of the 2009 New York incident (and its aftermath for the pilot) cost a reported $60 million. Critics appreciated the flying heroics with an average of 83% on Rotten Tomatoes.

Opening in second place was the new thriller WHEN THE BOUGH BREAKS with $15 million. The PG-13 suspense story of a surrogate terrorizing Morris Chestnut and Regina Hall only cost a reported $10 million to make. And while there aren't currently many critics' reviews to measure, the movie currently sits at 0% on Rotten Tomatoes.

After menacing home invaders for two weeks on top, DON'T BREATHE moved down to third place with $8.2 million. The R-rated horror movie, which reportedly cost $10 million to produce, now has a domestic total of $66.8 million.

SUICIDE SQUAD was in fourth with $5.6 million as the DC Comics outlaws have now been in the top half of the chart for six consecutive weekends. The comic book adaptation is just about to touch $700 million worldwide, and its domestic total of $307.4 million has surpassed the $306.1 million finish of INDEPENDENCE DAY to become actor Will Smith's highest-grossing domestic release.

In fifth place was the new computer-animated feature THE WILD LIFE with an opening of $3.4 million. The Belgian import, which inserts talking animals into the classic tale of "Robinson Crusoe", cost a reported $13.5 million to produce and has made $20 million from international audiences. Critics stranded the PG-rated release with 15% on Rotten Tomatoes.

Laika's stop-motion animated KUBO AND THE TWO STRINGS was in sixth with $3.2 million, bringing its domestic total to $40.8 million after a month in theaters. Disney's live-action PETE'S DRAGON came in seventh with $2.9 million as it flies over $100 million worldwide. The R-rated comedy hit BAD MOMS followed in eighth with another $2.8 million.

HELL OR HIGH WATER held onto ninth place with $2.6 million. The acclaimed Jeff Bridges/Chris Pine/Ben Foster crime-drama, which cost $12 million to produce, is approching a domestic total of $20 million thanks to strong word-of-mouth. The R-rated animated food comedy SAUSAGE PARTY closed out the list with $2.3 million.

Outside the chart, WAR DOGS and MECHANIC: RESURRECTION shot out of sight, along with the Michael Fassbender/Alicia Vikander drama THE LIGHT BETWEEN OCEANS after one weekend in the Top 10.

The new Kate Beckinsale horror movie THE DISAPPOINTMENTS ROOM lived up to its title with a dismal opening of $1.4 million on 1500 screens. The R-rated psychological thriller, co-written by director DJ Caruso and actor Wentworth Miller (and tossed on the release schedule just a couple of weeks ago), cost a reported $15 million.

Next weekend, audiences can go back to the woods for more frightening sticks and stones in the sequel BLAIR WITCH, while Joseph Gordon-Levitt and director Oliver Stone leak the secrets of SNOWDEN, and Renee Zellweger returns to London to have BRIDGET JONES'S BABY.

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