Liam Neeson may have delivered a joking promise to his former Love Actually co-star and current Maze Runner actor Thomas Brodie Sangster that his new thriller A Walk Among The Tombstones would outrun the teen novel adaptation, but it’s Neeson left puffing along in second place. The film based on James Dashner’s book crossed the finish line first at the US box office this weekend.
The Maze Runner, helped by opening on nearly a thousand more screens, much more promotion and a youth audience-friendly cast, took the top spot with $32.5 million, which given that the studio is already deep into pre-production on the sequel, **Maze Runner: Scorch Trials **(now dated for Sep 18, 2015), must come as a relief to 20th Century Fox. It might not compare to the runaway successes such as Twilight or The Hunger Games (it opened to a lower figure than Divergent), but it’s a healthy enough sign that the franchise has taken off.
A Walk Among The Tombstones, meanwhile, saw Neeson back in action, albeit with a little more grit than the likes of Taken or Non-Sto****p. Still, it appears that US audiences are more keen on the silly stuff, because Tombstones could only muster $13.1 million, well below expectations. Still, that was enough to see off Shawn Levy’s latest, dysfunctional family comedy drama This Is Where I Leave You which, despite a solid cast, only opened to $11.8 million.
Last week’s champ, No Good Deed, took a tumble to fourth place, adding $10.2 million for a $40.1 million total so far. Dolphin Tale 2 sank three places to fifth with $9 million.
Guardians Of The Galaxy was down to sixth, earning $5.1 million as it began its slow march from the charts in anticipation of future big Blu-ray sales. The Marvel adventure crossed $313.6 million in the US this weekend and is up past $632.2 million worldwide. Let’s Be Cops was seventh with $2.7 million, while Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles fell to eighth with $2.6 million. Tom Hardy drama The Drop slipped to ninth and $2 million, just ahead of If I Stay, which earned $1.8 million.
To see a bunch of teenagers use their particular set to skills to outpace Liam Neeson in the full chart listings, head to Box Office Mojo.