By Leonard Klady Klady@moviecitynews.com

The Weekend Report

There’s no Accountant for taste as the Ben Affleck thriller topped weekend viewing with a debut estimated at $24.5 million. The Kevin Hart concert film What Now? appeared to have a razor-thin lead to take second spot ahead of The Girl on the Train with a $12 million tally. And gamer adaptation Max Steel was lost in the ether with a dismal $2.1 million launch.

In limited wide release, indie drama Priceless wound up with a $690,000 sticker price from 303 locations while the special engagement IMAX Harry Potter marathon garnered $1.2 million from 330 premium screens. Shin Godzilla stomped to $490,000 following prior weekday screenings that generated about $1 million.

The wave of new exclusive entries saw a few titles rise, including Brazil’s not-Oscar-submitted Aquarius with $27,900 at three venues; Christine grossing $14,900 from two cites and the indie omnibus Certain Women bubbling with $58,400 from five engagements.

In the niches, new Indian imports largely foundered while Mexican comedy La Leyenda del Chupacabras grossed $290,000 from 165 playdates. That nation’s Oscar foreign-language submission Desierto had a strong bow of $450,000 at 73 screens. In Québec, local youth drama 1:54 was off to a good start with $203,000, while French hit comedy Radin! didn’t translate in the province with a modest $56,600 gross from 26 theaters.

Revenues for the session crept toward $100 million and edged back 6% from the prior weekend. They were additionally 21% behind 2015 when the debut of Goosebumps led with a $23.6 million box office and freshmen The Bridge of Spies and Crimson Tide opened respectively with $15.4 million and $13.1 million. Domestic box office will surpass $9 billion on Tuesday.

The Ben Affleck-starring thriller The Accountant was tracking well ahead of the pack with estimates pegged in the mid-$20 million arena that arrived on target. It proved to be somewhat surprisingly a 58% male audience according to studio exit polling. The crowd was 86% aged 25-years and older (also higher than expected) with 30% in the 18-34 year old corridor. The Accountant also dipped into the international arena with launches in 10 markets that grossed an estimated $2.8 million. Its top market was Taiwan with roughly $750,000.

Kevin Hart is arguably the hardest working man in showbiz with his concert showcase What Next? marking his fourth film release in 2016 with no let up in sight. He’s worked diligently for stardom and his latest attracted a 51% female audience and his non-core African American base grew to 57%. Roughly 54% of viewers were 25-years and older.

The fractious production history of Max Steel wound up delaying its release for close to a year as positioning for a suitable opening date grew tortuous. It’s likely there was no optimal marketplace entry and it will quickly skitter to ancillaries.

Weekend (estimates) October 14 -16, 2016
Title Distributor Gross (avg) % chng Thtrs Cume
The Accountant WB 24.5 (7,350) NEW 3332 24.5
Kevin Hart: What Now? Uni 12.0 (4,660) NEW 2567 12
The Girl on the Train Uni 12.0 (3,690) -51% 3241 46.6
Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children Fox 8.9 (2,330) -41% 3835 65.9
Deepwater Horizon Lionsgate/ Elevation 6.4 (1,870) -44% 3403 49.4
Storks WB 5.6 (1,820) -33% 3066 59.1
The Magnificent Seven Sony 5.2 (1,610) -43% 3210 84.8
Middle School: The Worst Years of My Life CBS 4.2 (1,500) -38% 2822 13.7
Sully WB 2.9 (1,320) -42% 2211 118.3
The Birth of a Nation Fox Searhlight 2.7 (1,290) -61% 2105 12.2
Max Steel Open Road 2.1 (1,050) NEW 2034 2.1
Masterminds Relativity/eOne 1.7 (830) -59% 2027 16.2
Harry Potter (Imax Marathon) Imax 1.1 (3,390) NEW 330 1.1
Queen of Katwe BV .85 (800) -48% 1062 7
Suicide Squad WB .71 (1,130) -37% 630 323.7
Priceless Roadside Attract .69 (2,280) NEW 303 0.69
Don’t Breathe Sony .66 (1,080) -52% 612 88.2
Shin Godzilla FunImation .49 (1,600) 305 2
Desierto STX .45 (6,140) NEW 73 0.45
Denial Bleecker Street .40 (1,160) 82% 96 0.84
Bridget Jones’s Baby Uni .34 (870) -59% 390 23.6
Finding Dory BV .30 (1,570) -9% 189 485.2
La Leyenda del Chupacabras Pantelion .29 (1,780) NEW 165 0.29
Snowden Open Road/ Elevation .28 (820) -62% 343 20.9
The Secret Life of Pets Uni ..26 (930) -25% 276 365.8
Weekend Total ($500,000+ Films) $92.70
% Change (Last Year) -21%
% Change (Last Week) -6%
Also debuting/expanding
1:54 Seville .20 (3,380) 60 0.2
A Man Called Ove Music Box .20 (2,620) 100% 76 0.43
The Dressmaker Broad Green .17 (1,180) -27% 146 1.3
Operation Mekong Well Go .15 (5,480) -9% 27 0.58
American Honey A24 .14 (1,020) 76% 135 0.36
Certain Women IFC 58,400 (11,680) 5 0.06
Lock V.P. Films 56,600 (1,720) 33 0.06
Radin! A-Z Films 55,900 (2,150) 26 0.06
Neer Dose Sudhi 29,200 (1,010) 29 0.03
Aquarius Vitagraph 27,900 (9,300) 3 0.03
Miss Hokusai Gkids 24,300 (12,150) 2 0.02
Christine Orchard 14,900 (7,450) 2 0.02
Tower Kino 6,600 (1,650) 4 0.01
Little Sister Forager 6,200 (2,070) 3 0.01
I Am Nojoom Film Movement 5,100 (850) 6 0.01
Shadow World Wide House 4,700 (940) 5 0.01
The River Thief FreeStyle 4,600 (660) 7 0.01
Maya Angelou and Still I Rise Arc Entertainment 4,400 (1,100) 4 0.01
Coming Through the Rye Eammon 4,100 (4,100) 1 0.01
Domestic Market Share (January 1 – October 13, 2016)
Distributor (releases) Box Office Market Share
Buena Vista (13) 2150.6 24.20%
Warner Bros. (21) 1536.9 17.30%
20th Century Fox (18) 1203.6 13.50%
Universal (16) 1110.1 12.50%
Sony (21) 803.2 9.00%
Paramount (12) 609.1 6.80%
Lionsgate (23) 419.7 4.70%
Focus (11) 182.4 2.10%
STX (5) 163.2 1.80%
Open Road (6) 87.6 1.00%
Weinstein Co. (9) 59.6 0.70%
A24 (9) 49.1 0.60%
Roadside Attractions (9) 44.4 0.50%
Other * (318) 466.5 5.30%
8886 100.00%
* none greater than 0.4%
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Leonard Klady's Friday Estimates
Friday Screens % Chg Cume
Title Gross Thtr % Chgn Cume
Venom 33 4250 NEW 33
A Star is Born 15.7 3686 NEW 15.7
Smallfoot 3.5 4131 -46% 31.3
Night School 3.5 3019 -63% 37.9
The House Wirh a Clock in its Walls 1.8 3463 -43% 49.5
A Simple Favor 1 2408 -50% 46.6
The Nun 0.75 2264 -52% 111.5
Hell Fest 0.6 2297 -70% 7.4
Crazy Rich Asians 0.6 1466 -51% 167.6
The Predator 0.25 1643 -77% 49.3
Also Debuting
The Hate U Give 0.17 36
Shine 85,600 609
Exes Baggage 75,900 62
NOTA 71,300 138
96 61,600 62
Andhadhun 55,000 54
Afsar 45,400 33
Project Gutenberg 36,000 17
Love Yatri 22,300 41
Hello, Mrs. Money 22,200 37
Studio 54 5,300 1
Loving Pablo 4,200 15
3-Day Estimates Weekend % Chg Cume
No Good Dead 24.4 (11,230) NEW 24.4
Dolphin Tale 2 16.6 (4,540) NEW 16.6
Guardians of the Galaxy 7.9 (2,550) -23% 305.8
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 4.8 (1,630) -26% 181.1
The Drop 4.4 (5,480) NEW 4.4
Let's Be Cops 4.3 (1,570) -22% 73
If I Stay 4.0 (1,320) -28% 44.9
The November Man 2.8 (1,030) -36% 22.5
The Giver 2.5 (1,120) -26% 41.2
The Hundred-Foot Journey 2.5 (1,270) -21% 49.4