“No Good Deed,” a thriller from Sony starring Idris Elba, opened in first place in theaters over the weekend, toppling Walt Disney’s “Guardians of the Galaxy.”

“No Good Deed” collected $24.5 million in U.S. and Canadian cinemas, according to Rentrak Corp. “Dolphin Tale 2” garnered $16.6 million, to place second for Warner Bros. in its debut. “Guardians” fell to third place.

Sony’s film is its fourth movie to open in the No. 1 slot this year and the first new release to debut atop theaters in more than a month as “Guardians” and “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” led the closing weeks of a disappointing summer for Hollywood. Sony withheld “No Good Deed” from critic previews to avoid leaking a plot twist, a strategy that may have aided sales.

“We’re building some momentum right now,” said Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst at Rentrak. “This is where we get back on track after the traditionally very, very slow post-Labor Day weekend.”

Elba, the British actor known for the TV series “The Wire,” plays a dangerous escaped convict who terrorizes a mother, played by Taraji Henson, and her two young children after she offers to help him.

The film had a production budget of $13.2 million, according to Box Office Mojo, and was projected to collect $19 million, according to researcher BoxOffice.com.

Advertisement

“No Good Deed” benefited from compelling actors and effective marketing via social media that included Instagram and Twitter campaigns, Dergarabedian said.

Rottentomatoes.com, a review aggregator, gave the film a 12 percent positive rating after critics reviewed the movie Friday, the first day it opened. The website gave it a positive rating from audiences of 71 percent.

“There is something that could technically be considered a shocking plot twist,” wrote Peter Sobczynski on Rogerebert.com, a movie review site.

“The twist is so absurd, so arbitrary, and has so little effect on the proceedings that it feels like the kind of thing that Tyler Perry might have scratched for being too ridiculous.”


Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.

Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.