Box Office: 'Straight Outta Compton' Cruises to No. 1 Again With $26.8 Million, Newcomers Fall Flat

by Rebecca Ford

Straight Outta Compton, which earned $26.8 million in its second weekend, is quickly becoming August’s main success story, with this weekend’s three new releases falling flat at the domestic box office.

Indeed, Sinister 2, Hitman: Agent 47 and American Ultra all failed to meet their projected numbers this weekend, placing below both Compton and Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation, which is in its fourth week in theaters.

N.W.A biopic Compton easily took the No. 1 spot this weekend. Universal added around 200 more screens for the film’s second week, brining the total to around 3,000. After earning  a big $60.2 million in its domestic debut last weekend, Compton dropped around 56 percent in its second outing.

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Compton has already passed $100 million after just two weeks at the box office, hitting an estimated $111.5 million through this weekend. A smart marketing campaign, good reviews and strong word-of-mouth are to thank for the studio’s latest success. Compton’s second weekend win marks Universal’s 13th weekend atop the North American box office.

This weekend, both Compton and Universal’s comedy Trainwreck reached the $100 million milestone. Universal, having a record breaking year, now has seven titles that have passed $100 million domestically this year.

Tom Cruise’s fifth turn as agent Ethan Hunt in Rogue Nation continues to do solid business and, due to the lackluster performances by the three newbies, it took the No. 2 spot at the domestic box office this weekend with an estimated $11.7 million. Its total domestic tally is now at $158 million.

Related: 'Straight Outta Compton’ Heading Straight Outta America

The three newcomers, all rated R, may be suffering from the August blues because they’re all going for the same under 25 audience. Plus, many schools are already in session again, which can put a damper on attendance.

Sinister 2, a Blumhouse production released by Focus’ genre label Gramercy Pictures, did well enough to place No. 3 with a $10.6 million cume. The microbudgeted horror film, made for $10 million, is directed by Ciaran Foy from a script by franchise creators Scott Derrickson and C. Robert Cargill.

While Sinister 2’s tally is below the $14 million projected by tracking, the horror project about a mother and her two sons who move into a rural house that’s inhabited by an evil deity is cushioned by the fact that it was made for only $11 million.

Its total trails behind the first film, starring Ethan Hawke, which debuted to $18 million in October 2012, and went on to earn $77.7 million worldwide.

Blumhouse’s other recent release, STX’s first film The Gift, is having a solid run at the box office with an $11.8 million domestic debut in early August, and it took the No. 7 spot this weekend, adding around $4.3 million to its total and only dropping 34 percent in its third week.

Related: How ‘Straight Outta Compton’ Viral Marketing Became a Sensation

Fox’s video game adaptation Hitman: Agent 47 earned an estimated $8.2 million in its debut for fourth place. Starring Homeland’s Rupert Friend, the actioner was directed by Aleksander Bach from a script by Skip Woods and Michael Finch.

Fox’s second attempt at adaptation the popular video game series fell below the first film’s tally. The 2007 movie, starring Timothy Olyphant, earned $13 million when it debuted in November that year, and went on to take in just under $100 million worldwide.

Warner Bros.’ 1960s spy film Man From U.N.C.L.E was able to crack the top five in its second outing, earning $7.4 million domestically, a drop of just 45 percent. The Guy Ritchie film, which had a soft debut last weekend, has taken in $26.6 million domestically to date.

This weekend’s final wide release, American Ultra, wasn’t able to to find any fire as well. The stoner action comedy, starring Jesse Eisenberg and Kristen Stewart, will end the weekend with just $5.5 million, for a sixth place finish.

Lionsgate acquired Ultra ahead of the start of production for $7 million. The film centers on a stoner (Eisenberg) who discovers he’s a sleeper CIA assassin. It was originally projected to earn between $6 million and $8 million in its debut.

In the specialty sphere, Grandma, starring Lily Tomlin, earned $120,856 this weekend from four locations. Sony Pictures Classics, which bought the indie out of Sundance, released the film, which had a strong per theater average of 30,000 per theater. Isabel Croixet’s Learning to Drive from Broad Green Pictures earned around $67,417 from four theaters for a per screen average of $16,854.

Watch the cast of ‘Straight Outta Compton’ discuss a potential sequel: