‘Straight Outta Compton’ Looks to do $55 – $60M at Box Office

It’s the kind of opening usually reserved for so-called “tentpole movies” that trade in costumed heroes and special effects, not urban violence.

Meanwhile, the weekend’s only other wide release, The Man from U.N.C.L.E.

Straight Outta Compton and into the history books.

The film continues a winning streak for Universal, which has reached a record-shattering $5.5 billion so far this year, thanks to other massive openings and sturdy holdovers in Furious 7, Jurassic World, Minions and Fifty Shades of Grey. SINISTER 2 is a horror movie at a time when there aren’t any horror movies, so it has a chance of dethroning STRAIGHT OUTTA COMPTON, but my guess is the NWA biopic will make it two weekends in a row. The European spy caper, based on the oft-forgotten ’60s TV show of the same name, took in only $13.5 million. Directed by Guy Ritchie, the film, from Warners and Davis Entertainment, stars Henry Cavill and Armie Hammer as a Central Intelligence Agency agent and a KGB operative who work on a joint mission against a mysterious criminal organization.

To put that in perspective, “U.N.C.L.E.” cost around $80 million to make. The picture struggled to attract younger crowds unfamiliar with the original show, as 86% of the opening weekend audience was over the age of 25. “We know the older audience doesn’t come out on the first day, so hopefully they will find the movie over the next couple of weeks”. That brings its North American haul to approximately $140 million.

“Straight Outta Compton” went to the top of the charts this weekend with one of the biggest surprises of the summer box office.