Box Office: 'The Perfect Guy' Narrowly Beats 'The Visit'
By Pamela McClintock
Romantic thriller The Perfect Guy looks to have narrowly beat M. Night Shyamalan’s horror-thriller The Visit at the North American box office with $26.7 million-plus from 2,221 theaters.
The Visit took in an estimated $25.7 million from 3,068 theaters. The final weekend order could change if Sunday projections are off. Both movies, kicking off the fall box office, exceeded expectations, thanks in part to friendly PG-13 ratings.
The Perfect Guy, from Screen Gems, marks the fifth weekend in a row that a movie featuring African-American actors in the lead roles is topping the charts. Universal’s Straight Outta Compton won three consecutive weekends, followed by Sony/TriStar’s Christian drama War Room over Labor Day.
Related: ‘The Perfect Guy’: Film Review
Drected by David M. Rosenthal and written by Tyger Williams, Perfect Guy stars Sanaa Lathan as a successful lobbyist who begins a torrid affair with a charming, dangerous stranger (Michael Ealy), just as her former boyfriend (Morris Chestnut) resurfaces.
The movie, nabbing an A- CinemaScore, cost lost than most Screen Gems titles, or $12 million.
Watch the ‘Perfect Guy’ trailer:
Ealy has starred in a number of films for Screen Gems, including the Think Like a Man series and About Last Night. Lathan’s credits include Universal’s box-office hit The Best Man. She’s also an accomplished Broadway actress who was nominated for her performance in A Raisin in the Sun. Chestnut (Kick-Ass 2, The Call) also starred in the first Think Like a Man.
Following several studio disappointments, Shyamalan directed, produced and financed The Visit on his own for a mere $5 million. The comedic-laced thriller follows the saga of two children who are sent to spend time with their grandparents, only to find evil lurking.
Shyamalan showed an early cut of The Visit to producer Jason Blum, who then brought it to Universal, where Blum has a distribution deal. Universal quickly agreed to release the film, believes The Visit will be a big draw for teenagers, thanks to its friendly PG-13 rating.
Related: 'The Visit’: Film Review
Overseas, The Visit opened in 14 markets, including Spain and the U.K.
War Room placed No. 3 in its third weekend with $7.4 million for a domestic total of $39.2 million for Sony’s TriStar/Affirm label. Broad Green Pictures’ Robert Redford and Nick Nolte’s A Walk in the Woods followed with an estimated $5 million from 2,135 theaters for a 10-day domestic total of $20 million.
Mission: Impossible — Rogue Nation rounded out the top five with an estimated $4.2 million, narrowly beating Straight Outta Compton and pushing its North American cume to $188 million. Compton took in $4.1 million for a domestic total of $155.7 million.
Also opening this weekend was IDP/Samuel Goldwyn’s Christian drama 90 Minutes in Heaven, starring Hayden Christensen and Kate Bosworth. The film, directed by Michael Polish, is based on Don Piper’s biography recounting how he spent 90 minutes in heaven following a horrific car crash. 90 Minutes is the first title from Giving Films, a sister company of Family Christian Stores.
90 Minutes in Heaven grossed an estimated $2.1 million from 838 theaters to come in No. 9.
New offerings at the specialty box office include Oren Moverman’s homeless drama, Time Out of Mind, starring Richard Gere, and Sleeping With Other People, starring Jason Sudeikis and Alison Brie.
