US suffers worst box office returns in almost 16 years

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Hampered by a hurricane and a high-profile boxing match, the US' weekend box-office results were the slowest in almost 16 years, allowing previous leader "The Hitman's Bodyguard" to retain its top spot with an unimpressive 10.1 million US dollar take.

Harvey, the deadly hurricane-turned-tropical storm, led to some theater closings in Texas, while Floyd Mayweather's much-hyped bout against Irishman Conor McGregor proved to be one of the biggest pay-per-view shows in history, Variety.com reported.

The closed I-10 highway after Hurricane Harvey caused heavy flooding in Houston, Texas on August 27, 2017. /AFP Photo

That left the overall weekend box office around 65 million US dollar, its lowest since a weekend shortly after the September 11, 2001 terror attacks.

"This," website boxofficemojo.com said, "was a miserable weekend."

"Hitman," an action comedy from Lionsgate, saw its estimated three-day take drop by about half from its 21.4 million US dollar opening a week earlier, industry website Exhibitor Relations reported.

Samuel L. Jackson and Ryan Reynolds star in the buddy romp “The Hitman’s Bodyguard”. /Photo via For The Times

The film tells the story of a famous bodyguard (Ryan Reynolds) hired to protect a notorious hitman (Samuel L. Jackson) who is about to testify in a high-profile trial.

In second place for the weekend was Warner Bros.' horror flick "Annabelle: Creation," part of the popular "Conjuring" franchise.

The film, starring Stephanie Sigman, Talitha Bateman, Miranda Otto and Anthony LaPaglia, took in 7.4 million US dollars, adding to its worldwide gross of more than 1 billion US dollars.

Poster of "Annabelle: Creation" (2017). /Photo via IMDb.com‍

Next was "Leap," a new release from the Weinstein Co., at 5 million US dollars - a remarkably small take for a third-place film.

The animated family picture tells the story of a young orphan, voiced by Elle Fanning, who dreams of becoming a ballet dancer 19th Century Paris.

Source(s): AFP