Two offbeat debuts followed Suicide Squad and Sausage Party: the Iraq war comedy War Dogs, with Miles Teller and Jonah Hill; and the stop-motion animated Kubo and the Two Strings from Focus Features and Laika Entertainment.
Still, fueled by Suicide Squad and Sausage Party, the box office was up more than 22% over the same weekend last year, according to comScore.
Instead, Warner Bros’ much-maligned DC Comics supervillain team-up film Suicide Squad held the top stop for the third straight week with an estimated $20.7m over its third weekend.
A co-production between MGM and Paramount, Ben-Hur is the third adaption of Lee Wallace’s novel, Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ.