‘Transporter’ takes slight box office lead on a ho-hum Labor Day weekend

“The Transporter Refueled” drove the box office to weak Labor Day weekend territory Friday, topping the charts with a mere $2.4 million in ticket sales.

Runner-up “War Room” took in $2.3 million and former box-office favorite “Straight Outta Compton” nabbed $2.2 million, bringing its total domestic take to $141.2 million as it enters its fourth week of release, according to boxofficemojo.com.

EuropaCorp’s “Transporter” reboot replaces star Jason Statham with Ed Skrein. Statham last starred in 2008’s “Transporter 3,” which took in $12 million on its opening weekend -- the second highest total for the “Transporter” franchise. The films follow the blood-stained path of former special-ops mercenary Frank Martin, who will deliver anything to anyone for the right price.

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“Transporter Refueled” is probably suffering from negative word of mouth. It has an 18% “fresh” rating on Rotten Tomatoes and an audience grade of B-, according to CinemaScore, which tracks moviegoers’ reactions on opening night.

TriStar’s “War Room” held tight in the top three in its second week of release. Last week the film, about a woman who turns her closet into a “war room” in order to regain her spiritual footing in a quest to save her rocky marriage, took an early, albeit small, box-office lead over “Straight Outta Compton.”

Faith-based films have a tenacious history at the box office. Last year’s “Heaven Is for Real” grossed $91.4 million at the domestic box office after costing $12 million to make. The $3-million “War Room” already has a domestic total of $17.6 million.

Along with “Transporter Refueled,” “A Walk in the Woods” is the weekend’s other new release. That film came in at No. 4 with a $2.2-million total. The Broad Green Pictures film, which stars Robert Redford as an American who decides to hike the Appalachian Trail after returning from two decades spent in Britain, is not showing in as many theaters as “Transporter Refueled,” but it could still crack the top three.

In what is shaping up to be one of the weakest Labor Day box offices weekends in quite some time, it’s unlikely that Universal’s N.W.A. rap biopic “Straight Outta Compton” will be crowned box office king for a fourth weekend in a row.

Paramount’s “Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation” rounded out the top five through Friday with $1.7 million.

Follow me on Twitter @jessicagelt.

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