Weekend Box Office Roundup: Denzel Washington In ‘The Equalizer’ Opens At #1, ‘The Boxtrolls’ To Inch By ‘The Maze Runner’ Starring ‘Teen Wolf’ Star Dylan O’Brien

This weekend at the box office it was a battle of the ages, but not in the sense of an epic face off. Kids, teens and adults all had a studio film to appease their tastes equally in theaters this weekend, but it would appear none of it matters when one of the film stars Academy Award winning actor Denzel Washington.

Although there's still one more day of weekend box office numbers to collect, there's no question that ‘The Equalizer' is number one. Behind Denzel Washington's new franchise action flick, forecasts were uncertain on how "The Boxtrolls" would fair against "The Maze Runner," since the young-adult dystopian film is bolstered by "Teen Wolf' actor Dylan O'Brien. With the numbers in from Friday and Saturday, it looks like the ugly yet endearing boxes of trolls will sneak by the teens running in the giant maze for the number two and number three spots in the box office.

"I can't speak for Mr. Washington but he just looks at things as material. Myself and Mr. Washington don't talk about sequels," said director Antoine Fuqua in an interview with Coming Soon.

All the buzz surrounding "The Equalizer" before it's release this week seemed to be concerned with the greenlit sequel and potentially new franchise helmed by Denzel Washington. It would appear that while the director and acting legend were not necessarily concerned about the possibility, everyone else showed their support by making it to see the film opening weekend. Box Office Mojo predicts that by the final numbers from sunday, "The Equalizer" will gross $36 million, well ahead of the other major studio films available for viewing this weekend.

According to Box Office Pro, "Focus Features reports that Laika's ‘The Boxtrolls' took in $4.9 million on Friday, a great start for the stop-motion-CG hybrid animation in a market that needed another family offering." The film is opening ahead of stop motion predecessors "Paranorman" and "Frankenweenie," suggesting that the difficult method of animation is alive and well. Box Office Mojo expects "The Boxtrolls" to inch by "The Maze Runner" for the number two spot behind "The Equalizer."

It may be still too early to tell as to whether screaming fangirls can put Dylan O'Brien in "The Maze Runner" ahead of the critically adored "The Boxtrolls," but there's no question that this weekend was a weekend for Denzel Washington and his thrilling performance in "The Equalizer."