The micro-budget home-invasion thriller “The Purge” debuted with an estimated $36.3 million at the box office this weekend, putting the brakes on the two-week dominance of “Fast & Furious 6.”
The weekend’s other wide opener, Fox’s Owen Wilson-Vince Vaughn comedy “The Internship,” was no match, bringing in roughly half the haul of “The Purge” with $18.1 million for fourth.
The big showing by “The Purge” means quite a return on the dollar for Universal Pictures, which is distributing both of the top two movies. “The Purge” is the first movie to come out of its 2011 deal with Jason Blum, the producer of the famously lucrative “Paranormal Activity” franchise, and cost just $3 million to make.
At the same time, the studio was celebrating “Fast 6’s” high-speed run by adding $19.7 milllion in its third week, breaking the $200 million mark at the domestic box office. That was enough to top magic-themed heist thriller “Now You See Me,” which managed $19.5 million in its second week.
