The suspense thriller “The Purge” topped the weekend box office with a shocking $36.4 million that doubled industry expectations, according to studio estimates yesterday.
Audiences starved for a horror option flocked to the microbudget film.
“The Purge” is set in a utopian United States in the year 2022, where crime has been eradicated except for one violently cathartic day a year when nearly all mayhem is legal.
The film opened strong with late-night screenings Thursday night that alone took in $3.4 million.
Second place went to the Vin Diesel action flick “Fast & Furious 6,” which earned $19.8 million in its third week of release. The latest installment of the street-racing series has earned a total of $202.3 million domestically and $381.7 million internationally.
The illusionist heist film “Now You See Me” earned $19.5 million over the weekend to land in third place, bringing its cumulative haul to $61.4 million.
The Google-promoting comedy “The Internship” was fourth, with $18.1 million, a decent debut for a film reteaming “Wedding Crashers” stars Owen Wilson and Vince Vaughn.