‘Baby Driver’ second in weekend box office race

In Edgar Wright’s biggest box office opening to date, Baby Driver has racked up $21 million after opening in over 3000 US theaters this weekend. The music-led action film starring Ansel Elgort, Lily James, and Kevin Spacey, outlining the story of a gifted getaway driver, has clearly struck a chord with audiences as well as critics.

The offbeat film has beaten big studio movie The House, latest Will Ferrell vehicle and victim to the big-budget comedy curse, opening at just $9 million. The House’s understated humor and desperation-fuelled plot made for a stale offering that had viewers cringing, and not in a good way. After Fox’s Amy Schumer title Snatched and Paramount’s Baywatch failed to bring home the bacon, it is almost a year since a big comedy clicked past $100 million at the box office.

Meanwhile, The Beguiled expanded its release into 670 more theaters this weekend, taking in a healthy $3.2 million. Filled with atmospheric thrills and sexual tension, the film won Sofia Coppola the Best Director gong this year at Cannes.

Kumail Nanjiani’s comedy The Big Sick, a thoroughly modern rom-com based on real life, continues to excel, taking in a very respectable $1.6 million from a mere 71 theaters.

Also on the rise is alternative comedy The Little Hours, which debuted at $61,560 across just two specialty theatres. Led by Aubrey Plaza (Parks and Recreation), the medieval romp delights with foul-mouthed nuns and a farcical plot reminiscent of Monty Python.