Box Office Top 20: ‘Equalizer’ Debuts with $34.1M

NEW YORK (AP) — Denzel Washington scored his third-best opening weekend and potentially spawned his first franchise with a $34.1 million debut for “The Equalizer.”

The Columbia Pictures release, in which Washington stars as a retired commando lured into a battle with the Russian mafia, is Washington’s second film with “Training Day” director Antoine Fuqua. The box office debut trails only Washington’s “Safe House” and “American Gangster.”

A sequel to “The Equalizer” is already in development.

The top 20 movies at U.S. and Canadian theaters Friday through Sunday, followed by distribution studio, gross, number of theater locations, average receipts per location, total gross and number of weeks in release, as compiled Monday by Rentrak, are:

1. “The Equalizer,” Sony, $34,137,828, 3,236 locations, $10,549 average, $34,137,828, 1 week.

2. “The Maze Runner,” 20th Century Fox, $17,437,020, 3,638 locations, $4,793 average, $57,955,347, 2 weeks.

3. “The Boxtrolls,” Focus Features, $17,275,239, 3,464 locations, $4,987 average, $17,275,239, 1 week.

4. “This Is Where I Leave You,” Warner Bros., $6,894,340, 2,868 locations, $2,404 average, $22,441,091, 2 weeks.

5. “Dolphin Tale 2,” Warner Bros., $4,788,153, 3,376 locations, $1,418 average, $33,618,190, 3 weeks.

6. “No Good Deed,” Sony, $4,509,127, 2,130 locations, $2,117 average, $46,532,221, 3 weeks.

7. “A Walk Among The Tombstones,” Universal, $4,192,785, 2,714 locations, $1,545 average, $20,830,290, 2 weeks.

8. “Guardians Of The Galaxy,” Disney, $3,765,941, 2,451 locations, $1,536 average, $319,169,216, 9 weeks.

9. “Let’s Be Cops,” 20th Century Fox, $1,516,021, 1,534 locations, $988 average, $79,628,884, 7 weeks.

10. “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles,” Paramount, $1,450,177, 1,585 locations, $915 average, $187,182,309, 8 weeks.

11. “The Skeleton Twins,” Roadside Attractions, $1,231,842, 385 locations, $3,200 average, $2,323,837, 3 weeks.

12. “The Drop,” Fox Searchlight, $1,046,090, 1,131 locations, $925 average, $9,641,812, 3 weeks.

13. “If I Stay,” Warner Bros., $932,318, 1,272 locations, $733 average, $49,128,389, 6 weeks.

14. “The Hundred-Foot Journey,” Disney, $607,595, 719 locations, $845 average, $52,593,224, 8 weeks.

15. “My Old Lady,” Cohen Media Group, $569,408, 255 locations, $2,233 average, $1,474,563, 3 weeks.

16. “Song, The,” IDP/Samuel Goldwyn Films, $568,596, 340 locations, $1,672 average, $568,596, 1 week.

17. “Mas Negro Que La Noche,” Lionsgate, $539,867, 178 locations, $3,033 average, $539,867, 1 week.

18. “When The Game Stands Tall,” Sony, $523,724, 794 locations, $660 average, $29,224,234, 6 weeks.

19. “The Giver,” The Weinstein Company, $422,777, 702 locations, $602 average, $43,838,601, 7 weeks.

20. “Lucy,” Universal, $370,755, 488 locations, $760 average, $125,480,625, 10 weeks.

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Universal and Focus are owned by NBC Universal, a unit of Comcast Corp.; Sony, Columbia, Sony Screen Gems and Sony Pictures Classics are units of Sony Corp.; Paramount is owned by Viacom Inc.; Disney, Pixar and Marvel are owned by The Walt Disney Co.; Miramax is owned by Filmyard Holdings LLC; 20th Century Fox and Fox Searchlight are owned by 21st Century Fox; Warner Bros. and New Line are units of Time Warner Inc.; MGM is owned by a group of former creditors including Highland Capital, Anchorage Advisors and Carl Icahn; Lionsgate is owned by Lions Gate Entertainment Corp.; IFC is owned by AMC Networks Inc.; Rogue is owned by Relativity Media LLC.