Two new releases, The Perfect Guy and The Visit, outperformed expectations and topped the weekend box office charts.  While neither film was in any danger of setting a new September box office record, together they accounted for over half the receipts of the top 12 films, and they powered the box office to a nice year-over-year win with the total of the top 12 movies up 12% from the same weekend last year when No Good Deed topped the charts with a $24.2 million debut.

No Good Deed, like The Perfect Guy, was a thriller with a predominantly African-American cast.  The Perfect Guy’s $26.7 million debut was very similar to that of No Good Deed, and for what it's worth, it marks the fifth straight weekend in which films with African-American casts (Straight Outta Compton and War Room being the others) topped the North American Box office.   The Perfect Guy, which stars Michael Ealy, Morris Chestnut, and Sanaa Lathan, earned a solid “A-“ CinemaScore from an audience that primarily female (69%), and older (58% over 25).  Produced for just $12 million, The Perfect Guy is perfectly poised to become a nice little moneymaker for Sony.

M. Knight Shyamalan has been on a losing streak since the immense success of his first directorial effort, The Sixth Sense, but the micro-budgeted horror film The Visit, which cost just $5 million to produce, should restore his standing a bit with its $25.7 million opening.  Shyamalan’s saga of evil grandparents posted the best debut by a horror film so far this year, though the film’s “B-“ CinemaScore could put a damper on its long term prospects.  As is typical with horror films these days, females made up the majority of the audience (60%), but The Visit also found a way to entice younger viewers (48% of the crowd was under 21).  The Visit also attracted a diverse audience with non-Caucasians making up 61% of opening weekend attendees.

The Christian-themed War Room added 121 theaters and dropped just 22% as it came in third with an estimated $7.4 million.   The $3 million production has now earned $39.2 million, so we can expect more films attempting to reach what is clearly an underserved audience looking for inspiring and uplifting movies.

This is the time of year that “serious movies” aimed at older adults typically hold sway, so it is no surprise that A Walk in the Woods, which is based on the Bill Bryson memoir and stars indie favorite Robert Redford, is continuing its solid box office run, as it dropped just 44% in its second frame and drove its ten-day total to nearly $20 million, chump change for a blockbuster, but a good showing for an “art movie.”

Tom Cruise’s Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation continued its strong North American performance, slipping just 42.6% in its seventh weekend as it added $4.2 million and drove its domestic total to $188.2 million.  But the big news for Rogue Nation was its $86 million opening weekend in China, which is now clearly the #2 market for films, trailing only North America.

The hit rap music biopic Straight Outta Compton dropped 53% as it earned $4 million and drove its domestic total to $155.7 million.  The powerful and relevant musical drama should end up north of $175 million here in North America.

EuropaCorp’s attempt to reboot its Transporter franchise sputtered badly as The Transporter Refueled dropped 63.3% from its dismal opening weekend.  Only a strong showing overseas can save this action movie franchise.

Another Christian drama, 90 Minutes in Heaven, which is based on a biographical novel by Don Piper debuted in 848 theaters and earned an estimated $2.1 million.  With a per venue average of just $2,461, 90 Minutes does not appear to have the same appeal as War Room, but with a cost of just $5 million, 90 Minutes is hardly likely to lose money either.

Be sure to check back here next week when a quartet of new films debuts including the YA novel-based The Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials, which earned $26.8 million from 21 territories this weekend, along with the Johnny Depp crime drama Black Friday, the mountain climbing epic Everest, and yet another faith-themed drama The Captive.