Box Office Top 20: 'Girl on the Train' races to top spot

The film adaptation of Paula Hawkins’ bestselling psychological thriller “The Girl on the Train” easily topped the box office this weekend, outpacing the embattled slavery drama “The Birth of a Nation” by a long stretch.

Starring Emily Blunt, “The Girl on the Train” took in $24.5 million for a first-place finish, while Nate Parker’s “The Birth of a Nation,” a Sundance sensation that’s been overshadowed by a rape case in Parker’s past, netted only $7 million for a sixth-place bow. The film, about Nat Turner’s 1831 slave rebellion was acquired by Fox Searchlight for a record $17.5 million.

Audiences were instead largely drawn to films that came out last weekend, like “Miss Peregrine’s Home For Peculiar Children,” which took in $15.1 million to take second place, and “Deepwater Horizon,” which earned $11.5 million for third place.

“The Magnificent Seven” and “Storks,” both in their third weekends, rounded out the top five with $9 million and $8.3 million, respectively.

The top 20 movies at U.S. and Canadian theatres Friday through Sunday, followed by distribution studio, gross, number of theatre locations, average receipts per location, total gross and number of weeks in release, as compiled Monday by comScore:

1. “The Girl On The Train,” Universal, $24,536,265, 3,144 locations, $7,804 average, $24,536,265, 1 week.

2. “Miss Peregrine’s Home For Peculiar Children,” 20th Century Fox, $15,141,789, 3,705 locations, $4,087 average, $51,195,272, 2 weeks.

3. “Deepwater Horizon,” Lionsgate, $11,527,027, 3,259 locations, $3,537 average, $38,295,415, 2 weeks.

4. “The Magnificent Seven,” Sony, $9,011,682, 3,696 locations, $2,438 average, $75,777,075, 3 weeks.

5. “Storks,” Warner Bros., $8,294,309, 3,608 locations, $2,299 average, $49,962,803, 3 weeks.

6. “The Birth Of A Nation,” Fox Searchlight, $7,004,254, 2,105 locations, $3,327 average, $7,004,254, 1 week.

7. “Middle School: The Worst Years Of My Life,” Lionsgate, $6,878,437, 2,822 locations, $2,437 average, $6,878,437, 1 week.

8. “Sully,” Warner Bros., $5,010,340, 3,058 locations, $1,638 average, $113,225,772, 5 weeks.

9. “Masterminds,” Relativity Media, $4,078,715, 3,042 locations, $1,341 average, $12,767,040, 2 weeks.

10. “Queen Of Katwe,” Disney, $1,627,313, 1,259 locations, $1,293 average, $5,393,949, 3 weeks.

11. “Don’t Breathe,” Sony, $1,379,646, 1,066 locations, $1,294 average, $86,951,001, 7 weeks.

12. “Suicide Squad,” Warner Bros., $1,123,640, 972 locations, $1,156 average, $322,547,564, 10 weeks.

13. “MET Opera: Tristan und Isolde,” Fathom Events, $1,080,000, 900 locations, $1,200 average, $1,080,000, 1 week.

14. “Bridget Jones’s Baby,” Universal, $843,880, 915 locations, $922 average, $22,804,575, 4 weeks.

15. “Snowden,” Open Road, $743,170, 787 locations, $944 average, $20,206,248, 4 weeks.

16. “Blair Witch,” Lionsgate, $518,292, 668 locations, $776 average, $20,197,601, 4 weeks.

17. “Sausage Party,” Sony, $471,424, 1,071 locations, $440 average, $97,325,575, 9 weeks.

18. “Premam,” BlueSky Cinemas, $447,022, 120 locations, $3,725 average, $521,977, 1 week.

19. “When The Bough Breaks,” Sony, $443,687, 460 locations, $965 average, $29,309,567, 5 weeks.

20. “The Secret Life Of Pets,” Universal, $340,695, 339 locations, $1,005 average, $365,389,630, 14 weeks.

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Universal and Focus are owned by NBC Universal, a unit of Comcast Corp.; Sony, Columbia, Sony Screen Gems and Sony Pictures Classics are units of Sony Corp.; Paramount is owned by Viacom Inc.; Disney, Pixar and Marvel are owned by The Walt Disney Co.; Miramax is owned by Filmyard Holdings LLC; 20th Century Fox and Fox Searchlight are owned by 21st Century Fox; Warner Bros. and New Line are units of Time Warner Inc.; MGM is owned by a group of former creditors including Highland Capital, Anchorage Advisors and Carl Icahn; Lionsgate is owned by Lions Gate Entertainment Corp.; IFC is owned by AMC Networks Inc.; Rogue is owned by Relativity Media LLC.

The Associated Press