The Diesel-powered “Riddick” took the box office crown over the weekend — but the industry as a whole was running on fumes at the official start of the fall movie season.
The sci-fi sequel to the 2000 cult favorite “Pitch Black” and “Chronicles of Riddick” four years later debuted with a solid $18.7 million in ticket sales.
But the win is considered proof of star and producer Vin Diesel’s box office clout after the actor kicked off the summer with back to back No. 1 weeks in “Fast & Furious 6.”
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“He is the draw, there is no question about it,” Nikki Rocco, president of Universal Pictures Distribution, told the Daily News.
“This has been a very good year for Vin, three times he controlled the top slot at the box office.”
“Riddick” also benefited from being released on what is traditionally one of the slowest box office weekends of the year, steering clear of the tougher competition in the blockbuster-saturated summer.
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“We specifically wanted to be in this corridor with this film,” said Rocco. “You have to be really smart about releasing time lately. ... We didn’t just take a dart and say, ‘Okay this will be the opening weekend.’”
The civil rights-themed “Lee Daniels’ The Butler” continued its march towards the $100 million, finishing at No. 2 with $8.9 million after spending the last two weeks in the top spot.
“They really capitalized on the release date, Oprah Winfrey's popularity and the right theme at the right time,” said Paul Dergarabedian, box office analyst for Hollywood.com, said of The Weinstein Co. hit. “August and September are the months where a small movie can become an unlikely big hit.”
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Another little movie that could, Lionsgate’s Spanish-language “Instructions Not Included,” finished third with $8.1 million.
But for the rest of the field, there was little ticket money to go around: The $85 million in total box office for every single movie in release is less than half of what “Iron Man 3” hauled in to open the summer over the May 3-5 weekend.
"The post-Labor Day weekend is traditionally one of the slowest weekends of the year,” said Dergarabedian.
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