Stalker thriller film The Perfect Guy dominated the box office this weekend, narrowly defeating horror flick The Visit with $26.7 million from 2,221 theaters.
“It was a creepy two-horse race right down to the wire, but Perfect Guy pulled ahead to win it by a nose,” says Paul Dergarabedian, senior box-office analyst for Rentrak. “Anytime it’s this close, only a million dollars, there’s a possibility that positions could change.”
With a $12 million production cost, David M. Rosenthal’s The Perfect Guy, from Sony’s Screen Gems label, stars Sanaa Lathan as a successful lobbyist who begins a passionate relationship with a charming stranger (Michael Ealy). When her former boyfriend (Morris Chestnut) resurfaces in her life she has to figure out who she should trust and who she should fear.
Moviegoers, who were 70 percent female and 41 percent under the age of 25, gave the film an A minus CinemaScore, while critics gave it a 31 percent “fresh” score on Rotten Tomatoes.
“It really killed in the South and on the East Coast. This is a big win for us, and no one does the sex thriller genre better than Clint Culpepper’s Screen Gems,” said Sony distribution chief Rory Bruer. “If your films resonate well with your core audience, they are going to show up.”
Directed by M. Night Shyamalan (The Sixth Sense) and produced by Jason Blum, The Visit followed in second place with $25.7 million from 3,068 theaters. Both thriller films were expected to debut around $15 million to $17 million for the weekend.
The Visit, which cost a mere $5 million to produce, follows the story of two children who are visiting their grandparents, only to find evil lurking.
“M. Night Shyamalan is back,” said Nicholas Carpou, head of domestic distribution at Universal. “This was a great collaboration. There was a lot of goodwill out there for a master storyteller working in this genre.”
More than 60 percent of the moviegoers were female, while 48 percent were under the age of 21. The fright blockbuster received a B minus CinemaScore and a 62 percent “fresh” score on Rotten Tomatoes.
The weekend’s other newcomer was IDP/Samuel Goldwyn’s 90 Minutes in Heaven who wasn’t as successful at the box office. The film, starring Hayden Christensen and Kate Bosworth, took in a disappointing $2.2 million across 878 theaters.
Directed by Michael Polish, the Christian drama is based on Don Piper’s biography recounting how he spent 90 minutes in heaven following a terrible car crash.
Sony/TriStar’s Christian drama War Room landed in third place at the box office, taking in $7.4 million for the weekend and bringing its domestic haul to $39.2 million. It holds the rank as the highest-grossing film for director’s Alex and Stephen Kendrick, topping 2011’s Courageous ($34.5 million total).
Rounding out the top five at the box office is Broad Green’s A Walk in the Woods in fourth with $4.7 million ($19.9 million domestic total), and Paramount’s Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation in fifth with $4.1 million ($188.2 million domestic total).
Top 10 Films at Weekend Box Office: September 11-13
- The Perfect Guy — $26.7 million
- The Visit — $25.7 million
- War Room — $7.4 million
- A Walk In The Woods — $4.7 million
- Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation — $4.2 million
- Straight Outta Compton — $4.1 million
- No Escape — $2.9 million
- The Transporter: Refueled — $2.7 million
- 90 Minutes In Heaven — $2.2 million
- Un Gallo con Muchos Huevos — $1.9 million
