After the disappointment of Sabotage, David Ayer has reason to feel cheerful this weekend as his World War II tank drama Fury roared to the top of the box office charts in America according to studio estimates. His panzer bonanza displaced Gone Girl and easily outpaced the competition – not that there was much in the way of direct challengers for its market.
Fury, which finds Brad Pitt as the commander of a Sherman tank pushing through Germany in the waning, but still very dangerous, days of the conflict, made $23.5 million from its first time out, a healthy start for a film looking to recoup nearly $70 million in production costs. Last week’s top spot squatter, Gone Girl, dipped just 32 per cent to take second with $17.8 million and easily passed the $100 million mark in the US this weekend.
Third place went to The Book Of Life, the Mexican/Day Of The Dead-themed animated adventure that was directed by first-timer Jorge Gutierrez and produced by Guillermo del Toro. The ‘toon took in $17 million and should hopefully show strong legs. It arrived ahead of Alexander And The Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day, Disney’s live-action kids' pic, which fell from third to fourth and took home $12 million. In fifth, we find the latest Nicholas Sparks adaptation The Best Of M****e, which has suffered from terrible reviews and arrived to middling interest, earning just $10 million. It’s the worst opening figure for a Sparks-based film so far, and could indicate that audiences are tiring of his particular brand of rom-dram tricks. If only he’d follow our advice and throw a robotic camel in there somewhere.
Dr****acula Untold fell from second to sixth with $9.8 million and $40.7 million in the US to date. That put it ahead of** The Judge**, which slipped a couple of places to seventh and earned $7.94 million. Horror spin-off Annabelle sank to eighth place, scaring up $7.92 million, with **The Equalizer at ninth ($5.4 million) and The Maze Runner **falling to 10th with $4.5 million.
To see Brad Pitt drive a tank over Ben Affleck in the full chart listings, head to Box Office Mojo.