Magnificent Seven Wins US Box Office With $35M, a Career Best for Director

The new western The Magnificent Seven officially opened in theaters on Friday and raked in $35 million for its opening weekend in the US, Sony has announced. That made it the No. 1 movie of the weekend domestically, with new animated film Storks landing in the No. 2 position with $21.8 million.

According to Deadline, which supplied the numbers, The Magnificent Seven's $35 million is a career-best opening weekend domestic figure for director Antoine Fuqua. His previous record-holder was The Equalizer, which pulled in $34.1 million for its opening weekend back in 2014.

It's the third-highest opening for star Denzel Washington, following Safe House ($40.2 million) and American Gangster ($43.6 million), according to Box Office Mojo. $35 million is also the second-best debut for a western, following Cowboys & Aliens, which made $36.4 million for its opening.

Chris Pratt (Guardians of the Galaxy) and and Ethan Hawke (Training Day) also star in the film. The movie follows seven gunslingers as they defend a small town from a mining tycoon and his cronies, who intend on taking control of the town by force.

GameSpot critic Randolph Ramsay reviewed The Magnificent Seven and said, "It's certainly fun and cheer-worthy as the honorable good guys stand against the deeds of evil men. And its dedication to the well-trodden path makes it enjoyable, but not necessarily memorable. The Magnificent Seven is a bubblegum western in the best way possible, and it's about time we had another one of those mosey into town."

The Magnificent Seven's $35 million opening is just ahead of expectations, which predicted the movie would make $32 million-$34 million.

Go to Deadline to see a full breakdown of this weekend's US box office performance.