LOS ANGELES, Sept 16 — The Predator was able to fend off The Nun at the domestic box office.

Shane Black’s The Predator launched with a tepid US$24 million (RM99.32 million) from 4,037 North American locations. That was easily enough to top the weekend box office, but not enough to land a franchise-best debut. That distinction still belongs to 2010’s Predator with US$24.7 million (not including the two Alien vs. Predator crossover films). Overseas, The Predator earned US$30.7 million for a global start of US$54.7 million. It will need to generate big business internationally to justify its US$88 million production budget.

Warner Bros The Nun dropped to second place, picking up US$18 million in its second weekend for a domestic tally of US$85 million. Meanwhile, Lionsgate’s A Simple Favor debuted at No. 3 with US$16 million on 3,102 screens. Another new offering, Matthew McConaughey’s White Boy Rick, along with Crazy Rich Asians rounded out the top five.

Though The Predator opened at the lower end of estimates, it doesn’t seem surrounding controversy tainted the sci-fi film. Prior to its premiere, The Predator drew ire after 20th Century Fox announced it deleted a scene featuring registered sex offender Steven Wilder Striegel. The studio said it was “not aware” of Striegel’s background when he was hired. Black has since apologised for casting Striegel, who is a friend of his.

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Chris Aronson, head of domestic distribution at Fox, said the scandal didn’t influence weekend numbers. “I don’t think it dissuaded anyone who wasn’t predestined to go. I think it had minimal, if any, impact,” he said.

The fourth instalment — starring Olivia Munn, Boyd Holbrook, Trevante Rhodes, Jacob Tremblay, Keegan Michael Key, and Sterling K. Brown — has generated mediocre reception. It holds a bleak 34 per cent average on review aggregation site Rotten Tomatoes, along with a C+ CinemaScore.

Anna Kendrick, Blake Lively and Henry Golding star in A Simple Favor, which fared well with females and adults. Women accounted for 67 per cent of audiences, while 86 per cent were 25 or older. Paul Feig, known for his work on Freaks and Geeks and Bridesmaids, directed the neo-noir mystery drama.

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Sony and Studio 8’s White Boy Rick will battle it out with Warner Bros’ Crazy Rich Asians for fourth and fifth place. Sunday estimates show Crazy Rich Asians pocketing US$8.7 million in its fifth outing, while White Boy Rick generated US$8.8 million. Those numbers could easily fluctuate before the final tally comes in tomorrow. To date, Crazy Rich Asians has made US$149 million in North America.

The weekend’s final new offering was Pure Flix’s Unbroken: Path to Redemption. It just barely cracked the top 10 with US$2.2 million from 1,620 locations. The movie is a “spiritual” sequel to Angelina Jolie’s 2014 film Unbroken, though neither Jolie nor Universal Pictures are involved in the latest instalment.

At the specialty box office, Roadside Attractions’ Lizzie premiered with US$45,000 in four venues. The biographical drama about axe murderer Lizzie Borden stars Chloe Sevigny and Kristen Stewart.

A24 opened The Children Act with Emma Thompson in three locations, earning US$20,362. Meanwhile, Nicolas Cage’s horror film Mandy grossed US$250,000 from 92 locations. — Variety/Reuters