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<\/a><\/p>\nThree new movies \u2014 including a couple of long-delayed threequels \u2014 got off to a poor start in North America this week, but one of them was a hit overseas, at least.<\/p>\n
Bridget Jones\u2019s Baby<\/b><\/i> landed in third place at the North American box office with an estimated $8.2 million between Thursday and Sunday nights<\/a>.<\/p>\n That\u2019s the lowest domestic opening of any film in the Bridget Jones series<\/a>, even before inflation is taken into account. (The first two films came out in 2001 and 2004.)<\/p>\n However, the new film broke records overseas<\/a>, where it racked up $29.9 million and had the best opening of any romantic comedy released in the British Isles. <\/p>\n Meanwhile, Blair Witch<\/b><\/i> landed in second place for the weekend with $9.7 million, which is easily the lowest wide debut of any film in that once-hyped series<\/a>. (The original Blair Witch Project<\/i> grossed $29.2 million in its first wide weekend in 1999, and Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2<\/i> opened to $13.2 million in 2000.)<\/p>\n The film\u2019s poor performance is all the more remarkable because low-budget horror films like Don\u2019t Breathe<\/i>, Lights Out<\/i> and The Purge: Election Year<\/i> have done very well this year, and so have bigger-budgeted horror films like The Conjuring 2<\/i>.<\/p>\n The weekend\u2019s other major wide release was Snowden<\/b><\/i>, which stars Joseph Gordon-Levitt as the former NSA agent who revealed just how extensively the U.S. government was spying on its own citizens. The film grossed a mere $8 million, which marks the lowest opening of any Oliver Stone film<\/a> in wide release since 1997\u2019s U-Turn<\/i>.<\/p>\n Hillsong: Let Hope Rise<\/b><\/i>, a \u201cfaith-based\u201d documentary about a praise and worship band, also opened on 816 screens across the U.S. (It doesn\u2019t come to Canada until early October.) It grossed $1.3 million and ranked 13th for the week.<\/p>\n Finally, Ben-Hur<\/b><\/i> earned only $225,000 and landed in 28th place in its fifth week. It has grossed $26.03 million in North America and another $54.9 million overseas, where it has almost finished rolling out, for a worldwide total of $80.9 million. (The film will open in Italy later this month, and it will come to Japan in January.)<\/p>\n Meanwhile, in other box-office news\u2026<\/p>\n Sully<\/b><\/i> led the box office with $22 million in its second week, thereby raising its domestic cume to $70.5 million. The film has earned another $23.4 million overseas for a global total of $93.9 million.<\/p>\n Don\u2019t Breathe<\/b><\/i> earned $5.6 million and ranked fifth in its fourth week, thereby raising its domestic cume to $75.3 million. The film has earned another $31.7 million overseas for a global total of $107 million.<\/p>\n When the Bough Breaks<\/b><\/i> earned $5.5 million and ranked sixth in its second week, thereby raising its domestic cume to $22.7 million. The film does not seem to have been released overseas yet.<\/p>\n Suicide Squad<\/b><\/i> earned $4.7 million and ranked seventh in its seventh week, thereby raising its domestic cume to $313.8 million. The film has earned another $405.1 million overseas for a global total of $718.9 million.<\/p>\n The Wild Life<\/b><\/i> earned $2.7 million and ranked eighth in its second week, thereby raising its domestic cume to $6.7 million. The film has earned another $20.9 million overseas for a global total of $27.5 million.<\/p>\n Kubo and the Two Strings<\/b><\/i> earned $2.5 million and ranked ninth in its fifth week, thereby raising its domestic cume to $44.2 million. The film has earned another $10.4 million overseas for a global total of $54.6 million.<\/p>\n And Pete\u2019s Dragon<\/b><\/i> earned $2 million and ranked tenth in its sixth week, thereby raising its domestic cume to $72.8 million. The film has earned another $40.2 million overseas for a global total of $113 million.<\/p>\n