Star-Studded Western
Directed by Antoine Fuqua, The Magnificent Seven galloped into the top of the weekend box office charts and placed No. 1 in North America, garnering $35 million from 3,674 theaters in its domestic debut. Benefiting from a star-studded cast starring Denzel Washington, Chris Pratt, Ethan Hawke, Vincent D'Onofrio, Lee Byung-hun, Manuel Garcia-Rulfo, Martin Sensmeier, Haley Bennett, and Peter Sarsgaard; with its solid audience reviews, The Magnificent Seven became one of the top opening of all time for a Western movie.
'The Magnificent Seven' is a remake of the successful 1960 film that featured Steve McQueen. The risky Western film from Sony and MGM had its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival earlier this month at which total costs run about $90 million. It was co-financed by Village Roadshow and LStar Capital. Sony had recent misfires, one of which is the film studio's attempt to remake 'Ghostbusters' into an all-female cast franchise. Despite the studio's falling in market shares within the past few years, it's currently fifth among the six major film companies.
The Magnificent Seven starred Denzel Washington and Chris Pratt and is about seven gunmen in the old wild west 'who came together to help a village against marauding thieves.'
Other Films
'Storks' by Warner Bros. came in second with $21.8 million in domestic theaters. It garnered $18.3 million internationally with a total of $40.1 million; produced for roughly $70 millionby Warner Animation Group. Warner bros. also claimed No. 3 with 'Sully', the adult drama starring Tom Hanks and directed by Clint Eastwood. Universal and Working Title's 'Bridget Jone's Baby' claimed No. 4. Other notable films currently showing are 'Snowden' and Disney's 'Queen of Katwe'.
Queen of Katwe is only opening in 52 theaters but plans to expand nationwide on Sep. 30. An award-contender hopeful, it earned $305,000. Queen of Katwe is about the real-life story of a girl, Phiona, from the slums who fell in love with the game chess and went to become an international chess champion.
