Chalk up another low-budget success for Lionsgate. After the No. 1 release of “Den of Thieves: Pantera,” the studio has topped the charts again with the Mark Wahlberg thriller “Flight Risk,” which is opening to $12 million from 3,161 theaters amid a wider slowdown for the box office.
Overall grosses for the weekend are expected to slide to approximately $64 million, slightly higher than the $59.3 million grossed on this weekend a year ago, but still a sign of an early-year slump with a lack of major titles. Business is expected to stay this way until Valentine’s Day weekend and the release of Marvel Studios’ “Captain America: Brave New World,” which early projections peg for a $95 million opening.