Big opening for 'The Magnificent Seven' shows westerns can still gallop
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Molly Driscoll Staff writer
鈥淭he Magnificent Seven鈥� arrived at a triumphant first place in the film鈥檚 opening weekend, with the movie becoming the newest western in the last several years to hit it big.聽
鈥淢agnificent,鈥� which is a remake of the 1960 film of the same name and stars Denzel Washington, Chris Pratt, and Ethan Hawke, grossed $35 million domestically in its first weekend.聽
As noted by , if the film can sustain its financial success over the next several weeks, 鈥淢agnificent鈥� will be just the newest success story for the Western genre. While the genre has had its share of misfires in the past decade, with movies like 鈥淐owboys and Aliens鈥� struggling, films that fit in the genre including 鈥淭rue Grit,鈥� 鈥淭he Revenant,鈥� and 鈥淭he Hateful Eight鈥� all became successes.聽
鈥淭he Western 鈥� has proven quite durable at the box office in recent years,鈥� Mr. Coyle writes.
Can 鈥淢agnificent鈥� gross more than these recent successes? Its $35 million opening weekend gross is fairly close to the opening weekend gross of 鈥淩evenant,鈥� which grossed $38 million domestically when it debuted in wide release. And it had a better opening debut than the film 鈥淭rue Grit,鈥� another success, which opened with more than $24 million.聽
sees some of the film鈥檚 opening weekend success as having come from an impression that the remake was bringing something new to the table and from the film鈥檚 diverse cast.聽
鈥淸The opening weekend] prov[es] that studios can make hay from worn genres and remakes if they are conceived in a totally new way,鈥� Mr. Barnes writes. 鈥淸T]he diversity generated positive media coverage 鈥� and audiences paid attention. Stars helped, too.鈥�
As for the rest of the box office, the new animated film "Storks" took in more than $21 million in second place聽behind 鈥淢agnificent."
The movie 鈥淪ully,鈥� which opened earlier this month and stars Tom Hanks as Chesley 鈥淪ully鈥� Sullenberger, came in third, grossing more than $13 million this past weekend, while the romantic comedy 鈥淏ridget Jones鈥檚 Baby,鈥� which also opened earlier this month, placed fourth, grossing more than $4 million.聽
The Oliver Stone film 鈥淪nowden,鈥� also a holdover, placed fifth, grossing more than $4 million.
