Box Office Top 20: ‘Maze Runner’ scorches ‘Black Mass’

The film is slated to release on 24 September 2015.

A thriller of another sort, “Everest“, in which a group of climbers find themselves engulfed in a blinding blizzard on the side of the iconic mountain, debuted in fifth place at $7.2 million, despite being in limited release in only 545 theaters.

To see Dylan O’Brien and the Maze Runner gang outrun Johnny Depp in the full chart listings, head to Box Office Mojo.

“Black Mass“, a look Boston gangster Whitey Bulger and his unholy alliance with the Federal Bureau of Investigation , has been hailed as a return to form for Johnny Depp, who had squandered critical and audience goodwill with too many “Mortdecai’s” and “Lone Rangers”. Well over half the audience was aged 25 and under and slightly more than half of ticket buyers were females.

While tedious in spots and definitely predictable, director Wes Ball and writer T.J. Nowlin manage to make the second film more interesting and action-packed than the first. I think in the case of Everest it was a great idea to build buzz as well as avoid what was an already crowded weekend between Black Mass and The Scorch Trials. It is directed by Scott Cooper and has an incredible cast.

It made $30.3 million in its first week in theaters, according to box office tracker Exhibitor Relations. Benedict Cumberbatch and Dakota Johnson also star in the film. The film, a co-production with Cross Creek and Walden Media, has also launched internationally with a $26.5 million weekend in 36 markets. The action is upped and well-shot, the acting performances are solid and the conclusion is a good one to get me excited for the final film.

Past year The Maze Runner finished with a surprising $102.4 million domestically, and the sci-fi adventure only cost $34 million. He’s a guy that swings for the fences, and sometimes falls short.

“I’ve always loved how human he (Thomas) is to his core because that speaks to this story on how these kids fight to survive”.