The Magnificent Seven rides to the sunset with $35M debut

The Magnificent Seven was expected to carry the box office thanks to Denzel Washington’s star power. Even in atypical genre, Washington continues to prove a reliable box office draw. Six of his top 10 best opening weekends have came since 2010. Unlike some of his peers like Johnny Depp and Will Smith, Washington’s stock remains strong.

Magnificent Seven was Washington’s third best opening of his career following American Gangster ($43 million) and Safe House ($40 million). It just narrowly beat The Equalizer ($34.1 million), Washington’s second collaboration with Antoine Fuqua.

With a $90 million budget, Seven will need to remain right near the top of the box office in subsequent weeks. With an A- CinemaScore, word of mouth should be solid and keep it as a viable option for audiences for a respectable time frame.

Landing in at second place was Storks at $21 million. That opening was less than distributor Warner Bros. was expecting. The original forecast was around $30 million.

Washington’s Philadelphia co-star, Tom Hanks, saw Sully fall to third place with $13.5 million. Sully held the box office crown for two weeks and has already earned back its $60 million budget with $92.4 million.

Bridget Jones’s Baby nabbed fourth place with $4.5 million. That takes its disappointing total to $16.4 million. The film still has a hurdle to meet its $35 million budget.

Snowden pulled in $4.1 million to add to its $15.1 million total.