‘Ben-Hur’ crashes at box office, ‘Suicide Squad’ stays on top for 3rd week
NEW YORK — A big-budget remake of “Ben-Hur” was trampled under a herd of holdovers and new releases at the box office, the latest casualty in a bruising summer for Hollywood.
The Paramount Pictures release, which cost about $100 million to make, debuted with just $11.4 million, according to studio estimates Sunday. That makes it one of the season’s more painful flops, albeit one that never had sky-high hopes.
Instead, Warner Bros.’s much-maligned “Suicide Squad” held the top stop for the third straight week with an estimated $20.7 million over its third weekend. It’s now made $262.3 million despite steep declines week to week.
Seth Rogen’s foul-mouthed food animated comedy “Sausage Party” continued to do well for Sony Pictures. In its second weekend, it took in $15.3 million.
