‘Maze Runner’ sequel outpaces ‘Black Mass’ at box office

Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials dominated in its first week in theatres, edging true-crime thriller Black Mass to lead the North American box office, according to industry figures released Monday.

In the end, it was the sequel, “The Scorch Trials“, that rose to the top with $30.3 million. While that came in slightly below the debut of the 2014 young-adult dystopian sci-fi original, it counted as a win for a movie that cost $61 million to make.

In second place was “Black Mass“, the film adaptation of the life of the criminal James “Whitey” Bulger, who between the 1970s and 1980s worked as an FBI informant in order to control the south of Boston while his brother William was engaged politics and was becoming senator from Massachusetts.

Proving that his latest thriller has audiences hooked is M. Night Shymalan’s “The Visit” which added another $11.4 million to its tally to claim third place.

The mountain-climbing drama “Everest” debuted in fifth place with $7.2 million. After 2 weeks, the thriller has already grossed over $40 million at the domestic box-office.

A Walk in the Woods, starring Robert Redford and Nick Nolte took the number seven spot at $2.8 million. It has so far made a total of $191.7 million overall.

Businesses also benefited with more than $1 million being spent on hardware and lumber supplies.