Box Office Report: The Maze Runner neutralizes The Equalizer

A group of relatively unknown young male actors were able to defend themselves against one of the most consistently bankable Hollywood actors over the past weekend, as Young Adult adaptation The Maze Runner fought off stiff competition from Denzel Washington’s latest action pic The Equalizer. The Maze Runner took just over $3 million in its second weekend, likely helped by strong word of mouth. The film has generally been received as one of the stronger Young Adult adaptations of the last few years, many of which have been adapted for the big screen with very little flair or inspiration, and The Maze Runner is thankfully more Hunger Games than Divergent. You can read our review of The Maze Runner here.

A loose adaption of the 1980’s TV series of the same name, The Equalizer sees Denzel Washington as a vigilante who uses his Black Ops training to protect a young girl, played by Chloe Grace Moretz. The film has received strong reviews (including our own, which you can read here) and contains another solid performance from the ever-dependable Washington. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and The Boxtrolls continued to do decent business but the chart this weekend was quite top-heavy, with many of the lower-ranking films failing to make much of a dent.

Genius director David Fincher’s first film since 2011 hits cinemas this week and early reviews position it as something to look forward to. Gone Girl, an adaptation of the best-selling novel by Gillian Flynn, stars Ben Affleck as Nick Dunne, a man placed under suspicion when his wife Amy (Rosamund Pike) disappears. Also being released this week is horror movie Annabelle, a spin-off of last year’s hit The Conjuring. The film sees a young couple tormented by a demon-possessed doll after being attacked by Satanists. The trailers have been pretty creepy so hopefully the film lives up to the high standard set by The Conjuring. The third major release this week is effects-driven horror prequel Dracula Untold, which shows how Dracula became the monster that we all know. The film stars Luke Evans (The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug) and looks like a decent blend of horror and fantasy action.

All figures from The Motion Picture Distributors Association of Australia.

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