Box Office Recap: ‘War Room’ Tops the Labor Day Charts With $12.6M

Sony’s War Room wins the slow Labor Day weekend with $12.6 million over the four-day period, surpassing holdover Straight Outta Compton.

With a $2 million production budget, brothers Alex and Stephen Kendrick’s faith-based drama has earned $27.9 million so far, and will likely become their biggest hit yet.

After ruling the box office for three consecutive weekends, the N.W.A. biopic Straight Outta Compton slid to second place with $8.9 million for the three days and $11.1 million for the four. The film has accumulated just under $150 million since its debut.

The weekend’s new nationwide release was Broad Green’s A Walk in the Woods, which debuted with $8.3 million for the three-day period and $10.3 million for the four. The film finished in third place finish across 1,960 theaters.

Adapted from Bill Bryson’s best-selling book of the same name, the film stars Robert Redford, Emma Thompson and Nick Nolte. Since it’s Wednesday premiere, the film has made $12.2 million.

Robert Redford & Nick Nolte Talk ‘A Walk In The Woods’

Targeted at an older adult audience (91 percent being over the age of 25), moviegoers gave A Walk in the Woods a B CinemaScore, while critics gave it a meager 48 percent “fresh” score on Rotten Tomatoes.

Following in fourth place is Paramount’s Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation with $9.3 million for the four day holiday weekend. Tom Cruises’ action film has gathered $182.5 million domestically and passed $500 million at the global box office this weekend.

Europacorp’s newcomer The Transporter: Refueled debuted over the weekend, as well, placing in fifth place with $7.1 million for the three days and 9 million for the four across 3,434 locations – one of the widest Labor Day releases ever.

With a B minus CinemaScore from moviegoers, the film hoped to reboot the franchise without Jason Statham.

Both Woods and Transporter are “modestly budgeted films that could do very well on on-demand,” said Rentrak senior analyst Paul Dergarabedian. “These are titles that were never destined to set the world on fire.”

Top 10 Films at Weekend Box Office: September 4-6

1. War Room — $9.4 million
2. Straight Outta Compton — $8.9 million
3. A Walk In The Woods — $8.3 million
4. Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation — $7.2 million
5. The Transporter: Refueled — $7.1 million
6. No Escape — $5.45 million
7. Man From U.N.C.L.E. — $3.45 million
8. Un Gallo con Muchos Huevos — $3.4 million
9. Sinister 2 — $3.4 million
10. Inside Out — $3.15 million