Hip-hop fans big up box office debut for biopic about pioneering rap group, and Tom Cruises maintains speed in Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation, while Guy Ritchie fails to revive The Man from Uncle at cinemas
Musical biopic Straight Outta Compton, about pioneering rap group NWA, moved centre stage at the US box office this weekend with a an opening take of $56.1m (£36.9m). Meanwhile, Guy Ritchie’s period spy saga The Man from UNCLE, starring Henry Cavill and Armie Hammer in this big-screen outing for the 60s television show, bombed on its debut with $13.5m.
Straight Outta Compton, directed by F. Gary Gray and featuring Ice Cube’s son O’Shea Jackson Jr. as his father, Corey Hawkins as Dr Dre, Jason Mitchell as Eazy-E, Aldis Hodge as MC Ren and Neil Brown Jr as DJ Yella, tells the story of the rap outfit who took the US music scene by storm in the late 80s. The film, which has been well-reviewed and has a groundswell of support from hip-hop fans, could become the highest-grossing R-rated August opening, as well as the top debut for a musical biopic, once final box-office estimates are confirmed.
Universal Studios helped some cinema chains with the cost of extra security when it was requested to do so. However, screenings across the US passed without incident.
Tom Cruise’s Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation took second place at this week’s box office, with $17m on its third week of release, for a total of $138.1m. The continuing success of Christopher McQuarrie’s film might have affected Ritchie’s similarly themed but comparatively underpowered The Man from UNCLE, which came in third in its first week. Its total of $13.5m is dwarfed by the US openings for Ritchie’s two most recent films, Sherlock Holmes ($62.3m in 2009) and Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows ($39.6m in 2011).
The Man from UNCLE debuts when the spy genre is experiencing a resurgence ahead of the October release of the 24th official James Bond movie, Spectre. As well as the new Mission: Impossible movie, Paul Feig’s action comedy Spy did well with critics and audiences in May, with $234.5m worldwide on a relatively meagre $65m shooting budget. Ritchie’s film cost around $80m, not including marketing costs, a figure it may struggle to recoup.
There was equally appalling financial news for Fantastic Four, 2oth Century Fox’s abortive attempt to reboot the Marvel Comics superhero quartet. In its second week of release, Josh Trank’s critically reviled effort made $8m and came in fourth at the box office, for a total of $41.9m in North America and $102m globally. According to the Hollywood Reporter, Fox may lose up to $60m on the project. The top five was rounded out by the Joel Edgerton-directed thriller The Gift with $6.5m, which has a two-week total of $23.5m.
There were no other new films in the US top 10 this week, but Noah Baumbach’s Mistress America, starring co-writer Greta Gerwig as a thirtysomething hipster in New York who takes a younger relative under her wing, did well on limited release, with $94,000 from four cinemas.
US box office chart, 14-16 August
1. Straight Outta Compton: $56m – NEW
2. Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation: $17m, total $138.1m
3. The Man from UNCLE: $13.5m – NEW
4. Fantastic Four: $8m, total $41.9m
5. The Gift: $6.5m, $23.5m
6. Ant-Man: $5.5m, total $157.5m
7. Vacation: $5.3m, $46.8m
8. Minions: $5.1m, total $312.9m
9. Ricki and the Flash: $4.5m, total $14.6m
10. Trainwreck: $3.8m, total $97.9m