NORTH AMERICA: ‘The Equalizer’ Surpasses the $40M Mark on Tuesday; ‘The Maze Runner’ Runs Past the $60M Mark

Sony’s The Equalizer grossed $3.63 million on Tuesday to lead the daily box office for a fifth straight day. The action thriller starring Denzel Washington was up a very solid 22 percent over Monday’s performance. The Equalizer surpassed the $40 million mark on Tuesday and has grossed $40.74 million in five days. That is in line with the film’s lofty pre-release expectations and places the film nearly on par with the $40.93 million five-day start of 2010’s The Book of Eli.

The Maze Runner held steady in second with $1.25 million. The young adult adaptation from Fox was up 29 percent from Monday and down a respectable 48 percent from last Tuesday. The Maze Runner surpassed the $60 million mark on Tuesday and has grossed $60.18 million through twelve days of release. The Maze Runner is already on the verge of reaching the $61.74 million final domestic gross of last year’s Ender’s Game.

The Boxtrolls took in $0.86 million to remain in third place. The latest 3D stop motion animated film from Focus and Laika increased 18 percent over Monday’s performance. The Boxtrolls has grossed a stronger than expected $18.87 million in its first five days. That places the film 9 percent ahead of the $17.29 million five-day start of 2012’s ParaNorman and 1 percent ahead of the $18.71 million five-day take of 2009’s Coraline.

Warner’s This Is Where I Leave You grossed $0.81 million to continue to claim fourth. The comedy starring Jason Bateman and Tina Fey was up a strong 41 percent over Monday and down just 33 percent from last Tuesday. This Is Where I Leave You has grossed $23.82 million in twelve days. While that is a bit below expectations, the film continues to display very solid holding power thus far.

Universal’s A Walk Among the Tombstones rounded out the day’s unchanged top five with $0.54 million. The action thriller starring Liam Neeson was up 38 percent from Monday, but still down a sharp 57 percent from last Tuesday. A Walk Among the Tombstones has grossed an underwhelming $21.76 million in twelve days and continues to display early signs of being significantly front-loaded.