Ben Affleck's “The Accountant” debuts atop box office

PanARMENIAN.Net - "The Accountant" easily tops the North American box office in its debut weekend with an estimated $24.7 million. The Warner Bros. action thriller has got negative reviews with just 51% of critics liking it on RottenTomatoes.com, but it has received an A grade at CinemaScore, AceShowbiz reveals.

"The marketing for this movie showed it to be a smart action movie with Ben Affleck. That combination worked for audiences this weekend," says senior media analyst for comScore Paul Dergarabedian. "And it's the audience paying the bills."

Also making its debut in U.S. theaters this weekend is Universal's "Kevin Hart: What Now?". Receiving a 78% positive critical rating on Rotten Tomatoes and an A- from audiences at CinemaScore, Kevin Hart's live stand-up comedy movie is coming in second with approximately $12 million.

"It doesn't matter what the rank, Kevin Hart is a profit machine," Dergarabedian says. "Hart is the rare movie star working today that can open a scripted comedy and fill a theater with stand-up comedy."

The two strong newcomers overthrow last week's champion and runner-up, "The Girl on the Train (2016)" and "Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children" respectively. Emily Blunt's psychological thriller drops to the third spot with another $12 million, while Eva Green's fantasy movie falls to the fourth place with an estimated $9 million.

Rounding out the top five is "Deepwater Horizon". The oil-rig thriller starring Mark Wahlberg and Kate Hudson is estimated to collect $6.4 million in its third week at the domestic box office.