'Hitman' stays on top, but box office is worst since 2001

Hampered by a hurricane and a high-profile boxing match, weekend box-office results in North America were the slowest in nearly 16 years, allowing previous leader "The Hitman's Bodyguard" to hold its top spot with an unimpressive $10.1 million 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 noted.

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

"This," as website boxofficemojo.com summed it up, "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 opening a week earlier, industry website Exhibitor Relations reported.

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. Salma Hayek plays Jackson's wife.

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, adding to its worldwide gross of more than $1 billion.

Next was "Leap," a new release from Weinstein Co., at $5 million -- 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 in 19th century Paris.

Fourth place went to "Wind River," another Weinstein production, at $4.4 million, improving on its 10th-place finish last week. It stars Jeremy Renner and Elizabeth Olsen as federal agents trying to solve a murder on an Indian reservation in Wyoming.

Bleecker Street's "Logan Lucky," Steven Soderbergh's first film since his self-proclaimed retirement four years ago, also took in $4.4 million. The film stars Channing Tatum, Adam Driver and Riley Keough in an unconventional heist comedy set at a NASCAR race.

Rounding out the top 10 were:

"Dunkirk" ($4 million)

"Spider-Man: Homecoming" ($2.7 million)

"Birth of the Dragon" ($2.5 million)

"The Emoji Movie" ($2.4 million)

"Girls Trip" ($2.3 million)

source: AFP