'Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials' rakes in USD 30.3 million at North American box office

Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials

Los Angeles: "Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials" debuted at the top of the box office in its first weekend, with an estimated $30.3 million in ticket sales in North America.


Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials. Pic/Santa Banta

Showing at 3,791 locations, the Fox's young-adult sequel "Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials" released below expectations and 7 percent lower than the $32.5 million debut of last year's dystopian sci-fi original, Xinhua reported.

'Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials' opened with $11 million on Friday, increased 11 percent on Saturday to gross $12.25 million and is estimated to decline 42 percent on Sunday to gross $7.05 million, according to studio estimates on Sunday.

First-night moviegoers gave the sequel a 'B+' rating on CinemaScore, which is below the 'A-' CinemaScore" rating of the first 'The Maze Runner'. It received 49 percent positive rate from critics on Rotten Tomatoes.

Warner Bro.'s 'Black Mass' opened in second place with an estimated $23.4 million in box office sales in 3,188 locations. Starring Johnny Depp, the crime drama marks his strongest opening since the launch of 'Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides' back in 2011.

'Black Mass' received a 'B' rating from audiences on CinemaScore and a strong 77 percent approval rate on Rotten Tomatoes.

"The Visit" was in third place in its second week of showings with an estimated $11.3 million weekend sales, declining 55 percent from last weekend.

The low-budget M. Night Shyamalan directed horror thriller has grossed $42.4 million in its 10-day of release.

Rounding out the rest of the top 10 movies in the US and Canada this weekend were 'The Perfect Guy' ($9.6 million), 'Everest' ($7.6 million), 'War Room' ($6.3 million), 'A Walk In The Woods' ($2.8 million), 'Mission: Impossible -- Rogue Nation' ($2.3 million), 'Straight Outta Compton' ($2 million) and 'Grandma' ($1.6 million).