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Will Smith returns to the top as ‘Focus’ wins the weekend box office

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Will Smith returns to the top as ‘Focus’ wins the weekend box office

Focus

Will Smith, star of numerous blockbusters over the course of his career, re-established his box office draw, as his latest feature Focus won the box office over the weekend, finishing with $19.1 million. The film marks Smith’s first prominent role since 2013’s After Earth, as he has been largely absent from the big screen since then, save for minor roles in Anchorman 2 and A Winter’s Tale. This is also Smith’s first no. 1 opening weekend since 2012’s Men in Black 3, adding to a number of commercial successes to the star’s credit in a filmography that includes Independence Day, Wild Wild West, and Hitch.

Barring the entry of Focus in the top spot, the weekend’s top 3 remained unchanged, as Kingsman: The Secret Service and The Spongebob Movie: Sponge Out of Water held on to the second and third spot respectively, finishing with a difference of less than a million, as Matthew Vaughn’s newest feature ended the weekend with $11.8 million, while Spongebob’s latest cinematic outing ended with $11.2 million. Last week’s box office champion Fifty Shades of Grey dropped to fourth place, with new opener The Lazarus Effect rounding out the top five. The Julianne Moore-starring Still Alice made its first appearance in the top ten, ending up in ninth place, and while Fifty Shades of Grey saw its box office revenue drop over 50% from last weekend, its drop was not as precipitous as that of Hot Tub Time Machine 2, which managed to round out the top ten despite seeing its revenue drop 60% from last weekend.

Among limited releases, the biggest opening was David Cronenberg’s newest feature Maps to the Stars, which was released in 66 theatres and earned $139,000, for a PSA of $2,106 to go with its earnings on Video on Demand, on which it saw a concurrent release. The most impactful limited opening, however, went to Yann Demange’s 71, as the story of a British soldier trying to survive during Belfast riots in the titular year earned $60,050 in four theatres for a PSA of $15,013. Other notable limited openings included Kirby Dick’s newest documentary The Hunting Ground, which earned $26,378 for a PSA of $13,189, and the Mads Mikkelsen-starring Western The Salvation, which made $4,980 for a PSA of $2,490 alongside a concurrent VOD release.

The top earners at the US box office for the weekend is as follows:

  1. Focus — $19,100,000
  2. Kingsman: The Secret Service — $11,750,000
  3. The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water — $11,200,000
  4. Fifty Shades of Grey — $10,927,000
  5. The Lazarus Effect — $10,600,000
  6. McFarland, USA — $7,797,000
  7. American Sniper — $7,700,000
  8. The DUFF — $7,150,000
  9. Still Alice — $2,695,000
  10. Hot Tub Time Machine 2 — $2,400,000