It was the ultimate match-up between West Coast (Straight Outta Compton’s N.W.A.) and very much east (since The Man From U.N.C.L.E. takes place in Germany and Italy, which Team America would tell you are several thousand miles east of California), won handily by the rappers.
Putting a giant cherry on top of Universal’s summer sundae, Straight Outta Compton far surpassed expectations, delivering $56.1 million at the US box office during its first weekend, according to studio estimates. It snapped the record for biggest August debut for an R-rated film in the States, taking the crown from Universal’s own American Pie 2. And given that the company took what was seen as a big risk in funding the movie at $29 million (see where that money went here), the result nearly doubles that original budget in one three-day period.
But while they couldn’t overcome the drawing power of Ice Cube and Dr. Dre, the spies of U.N.C.L.E. also lost out to a genre mate, with Ethan Hunt and the Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation crew slipping one place to second and earning $17 million this weekend for a $138.1 million US total. Guy Ritchie’s latest, meanwhile, opened to a disappointing $13.5 million, and given an extra layer of irony by the fact that Mission’s Tom Cruise was once attached to U.N.C.L.E. during its long road to the screen. With a $75 million budget (plus whatever Warners spent on advertising) to work off, the agents will have to hope that it somehow finds legs or appeals more to overseas crowds.
Still, the team can comfort themselves with thought that they’re not behind the latest iteration of The Fantastic Four, which cratered after last week’s second-place opening, losing 70 percent of its business for $8 million in its second weekend. It has now made roughly $42 million in the States, which is not going to make anyone particularly happy. In fifth, we find The Gift, which took in $6.5 million and is earned $23.7 million so far.
Sixth place went to Ant-Man, which fell from fifth and took home $5.5 million. The latest Marvel movie has now made $157.5 million in the US and more than $336 million globally, which puts it at the lower end of the spectrum in terms of the company’s performance, but is still a hit for the team. The new Vacation sank to seventh with $5.3 million, while Minions slipped to eighth and $5.2 million. Meryl Streep drama Ricki And The Flash earned $4.5 million in ninth, just ahead of Trainwreck, which pocketed $3.8 million as it fell to tenth place.
To see Ice Cube and co. outwit Napoleon Solo in the full chart listings, head to Box Office Mojo.