‘Hitman’ on top, but box office is worst since 2001

LOS ANGELES: Weekend North American box-office sales were the lowest in nearly 16 years, allowing previous leader “The Hitman’s Bodyguard” to hold its top spot with an underwhelming $10.3 million take.

“No need to sugarcoat it, this was a miserable weekend. The combined gross of the top twelve failed to total over $50 million, something that hasn’t happened in an August weekend in over 20 years.” industry watcher Boxofficemojo.com said.

Harvey, the deadly hurricane-turned-tropical storm, led to some theater closings in Texas, while Floyd Mayweather’s much-hyped bout against Irishman Conor McGregor proved to be one of the biggest pay-per-view shows in history, Variety.com noted.

Even with about $2.6 million revenue added from showings of the fight, it was “certainly one of the worst over the last few years. Actual ticket sales, however, will be the worst domestically this summer in 25 years,” Boxofficemojo added.

“Hitman,” an action comedy from Lionsgate, tells the story of a famous bodyguard (Ryan Reynolds) hired to protect a notorious hitman (Samuel L. Jackson) who is about to testify in a high-profile trial.

Salma Hayek plays Jackson’s wife. It has earned $40 million so far, according to Exhibitor Relations.

In second place for the weekend was Warner Bros.’ horror flick “Annabelle: Creation,” part of the popular “Conjuring” franchise. The film, starring Stephanie Sigman, Talitha Bateman, Miranda Otto and Anthony LaPaglia, took in $7.7 million, adding to its worldwide gross of more than $1 billion.

Next was “Leap,” a new release from Weinstein Co., at $4.7 million — a remarkably small take for a third-place film. The animated family picture tells the story of a young orphan, voiced by Elle Fanning, who dreams of becoming a ballet dancer in 19th century Paris.

Fourth place went to “Wind River,” another Weinstein production, at $4.6 million, improving on its 10th place finish last week. It stars Jeremy Renner and Elizabeth Olsen as federal agents trying to solve a murder on an Indian reservation in Wyoming.

Bleecker Street’s “Logan Lucky,” Steven Soderbergh’s first film since his self-proclaimed retirement four years ago, took in $4.2 million. The film stars Channing Tatum, Adam Driver and Riley Keough in an unconventional heist comedy set at a NASCAR race.

Rounding out the top 10 were:

“Dunkirk” ($3.9 million)

“Spider-Man: Homecoming” ($2.8 million)

“Birth of the Dragon” ($2.7 million)

“The Emoji Movie” ($2.5 million)

“Girls Trip” ($2.4 million)