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Three new releases hit movie theaters this weekend, and their performance varied across the board.

"Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children" found a fair number of new residents at the multiplex, while "Deepwater Horizon" underwhelmed, and "Masterminds" looked like anything but a good idea.

"Miss Peregrine," director Tim Burton's big-screen adaptation of the hit young-adult series by author Ransom Riggs, grossed an estimated $28.5 million in first place in the U.S. and Canada. That is a good, if not mind-blowing, start for the movie, given its budget of $110 million.

"Miss Peregrine," a fantasy about an abandoned orphanage, collected an additional $36.5 million from overseas markets representing about 60% of the global marketplace. That bodes well for the movie's eventual profitability, said Chris Aronson, president of domestic distribution at the movie's studio, Twentieth Century Fox.

"We're well on our way to being in the black on this one," said Mr. Aronson. (Fox's parent company, 21st Century Fox, and News Corp, owner of The Wall Street Journal, share common ownership.)

Two more installments followed the original "Miss Peregrine" book, but Mr. Aronson said it was "too early" to tell whether Fox would adapt them into sequels.

"Deepwater Horizon," the action-packed cinematic telling of the 2010 BP PLC blowout and oil spill, collected a tepid $20.6 million in second place. "Deepwater" will need an unusually strong degree of continued business in the coming weeks to qualify as a success, given a budget that topped $100 million after tax-credit savings.

Previous releases aimed at adults have shown particularly long "legs" this time of year, including "Captain Phillips" and "Bridge of Spies."

"Deepwater Horizon," starring Mark Wahlberg and Kate Hudson, has drawn strong critical response and audience feedback, which should help word-of-mouth. Its performance in the Gulf states affected by the BP oil spill was particularly strong, said David Spitz, co-president of domestic theatrical distribution at Lions Gate Entertainment Corp. Seven of the studio's top-10 performing theaters on Friday night were in Texas, he said.

The weekend's third new release, the Kristen Wiig comedy "Masterminds," barely registered with $6.6 million in sixth place. "Masterminds" was released by Relativity Media LLC seven months after the studio came out of bankruptcy, and its performance won't to help the company's financial woes.

In bankruptcy filings, Relativity estimated "Masterminds" would have a lifetime revenue of more than $130 million—a near impossibility given its weekend opening. A Relativity spokeswoman didn't return a request for comment.

Walt Disney Co.'s "Queen of Katwe," playing in fewer theaters than other wide releases, didn't pull in many moviegoers. The inspiring story of an Ugandan chess champion grossed $2.6 million in seventh place.

Last week's No. 1 movie, "The Magnificent Seven," held on in third place, collecting $15.7 million for a two-week total of $61.6 million.

Of all the new releases, audiences like "Queen of Katwe" best, giving it a rare "A+" grade, according to the CInemaScore market research firm. "Deepwater Horizon" received an "A-," "Miss Peregrine" got a "B+" and "Masterminds" a "B-."

Year-to-date box office is up 4.6%, according to comScore.

Write to Erich Schwartzel at erich.schwartzel@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

October 02, 2016 23:05 ET (03:05 GMT)

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