Business

Box Office Top 3: Denzel Pushes 'The Equalizer' To $35M

This weekend, "The Equalizer" soared to number one at the box office, bringing in an estimated $35 million and keeping 8 out of 10 moviegoers happy.

Box Office Top 3: Denzel Pushes 'The Equalizer' To $35M
Sony Pictures / "The Equalizer"
SMS

Looks like there's a new player in the middle-aged action star genre. Not since 'Training Day' have we seen this level of BA from Mr. Washington. 

"What do you see when you look at me?"

This weekend 'The Equalizer' soared to number one at the box office, bringing in an estimated $35 million and keeping 8 out of 10 moviegoers happy. 

The $35 million haul marks the biggest-ever debut for an R-rated film in September, and it's all thanks to the big guy. (Video via ABC)

YouTube / JeremyJahns: "Because it's Denzel, It's that guy! There's nothing uncool about that guy!"

Double Toasted: "He will charm you while you're dying, man!"

DEADLINE: "Denzel Washington, who fits this role like a glove."

And if Sony is lucky, 'The Equalizer' could have a sequel. Forbes reports one is in the works, but over the course of Washington's long storied acting career he has never done a sequel. 

"Day one greeny, rise and shine!"

Just barely pulling off a second place finish is young adult action-drama 'The Maze Runner' which pulled in an estimated $17.5 million this weekend falling from a $32.5 million opening last week. 

And like most young adult films before it we can expect a sequel for 'The Maze Runner' based on the second book in the series. 'The Maze Runner: Scorch Lights' is set to hit theaters in September 2015. 

"When you meet someone, you must look them in the eye and shake hands."

*Boy waves hands in the air*

"What are you doing?"

From the people that brought you 'Coraline' and 'ParaNorman' comes 'The Boxtrolls'— a stop-motion kids flick that brought in an estimated $17.2 million and received great reviews from critics and kids alike. 

Laika Animation is the studio behind the astonishingly tedious stop-motion movies 'Coraline', 'ParaNorman' and now 'The Boxtrolls'. How tedious you ask?

"You effectively move it one frame at a time. You'll move it slightly, take a picture move it a little bit more take another picture. And when you knit enough of those together and play them it looks like it's moving."

So just tedious enough make you run your head into a brick wall but the final product is incredible to watch. 

A critic on RogerEbert.com writes "LAIKA has outdone itself in its imagining of this complex world. ... The details of the costumes are amazing ... "The Boxtrolls" is a beautiful example of the potential in LAIKA's stop-motion approach"

As for next week, Chuckie's much creepier little sister

"Who are you?"

And the first big film of Oscar season

"Did you kill your wife Nick?"