Weekend Box Office: 'Miss Peregrine's' Heads for $26M; 'Deepwater Horizon' Eyes $20M

Elsewhere, Relativity's 'Masterminds' is off to a sobering start, while Disney's 'Queen of Katwe' also struggles.

Tim Burton's dark fantasy adventure Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children topped the Friday box office chart with $9 million from 3,522 theaters for a $26 million debut, according to projections.

That would mark a solid, but not spectacular, start for Burton's first big-budget studio film since the ill-fated Dark Shadows four years ago.

From Fox and Chernin Entertainment, Miss Peregrine's marks Tim Burton's first big-budget Hollywood studio movie since his ill-fated Dark Shadows in 2012 and cost $110 million to make. At that price point, box-office analysts caution the movie will need to have strong legs globally.

Miss Peregrine, based on the bestselling YA novel, follows a young boy (Asa Butterfield) who travels to an island in Wales and meets Miss Peregrine (Eva Green) and the orphaned children who possess special powers. He comes to discover the magical realm's ties to his own family.

Pete Berg's oil rig disaster movie Deepwater Horizon looks to place No. 2 in its debut with $20 million from 3,259 theaters, including a $7.1 million Friday. There's varied opinion on how much the movie, which reunites Berg with his Lone Survivor star Mark Wahlberg, cost. The budget was a hefty $156 million, but tax incentives brought it down to between $110 million-$120 million, according to those close to the production.

Deepwater, from Lionsgate and Participant Media, recounts the real-life oil rig explosion in the Gulf of Mexico. Walhberg stars opposite Kurt Russell, Kate Hudson and Gina Rodriguez in the film, which had its world premiere at the Toronto Film Festival earlier in September.

Antoine Fuqua's The Magnificent Seven is holding at No. 3 in its second outing after topping the chart last weekend. The Western, from MGM and Sony, looks to decline 55 percent to an estimated $15.5 million for a domestic cume through Sunday of $61.4 million.

Storks and box-office hit Sully will round out the top five.

New comedy Masterminds is struggling badly in is debut for a projected $6 million opening from 3,042 locations. The film — the first major release from Relativity since Ryan Kavanaugh's company emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy — stars Zach Galifianakis, Owen Wilson, Kristen Wiig and Jason Sudekis.

Masterminds earned a B- CinemaScore, followed by a B+ for Miss Peregrine's and an A- for Deepwater Horizon.

Expanding its footprint this weekend is Disney's chess drama Queen of Katwe, which is now playing in a total of 1,242 theaters. The chess drama is struggling as well for a projected $2.6 million weekend.

Sept. 30, 1:15 p.m. Updated with revised weekend predictions.

Sept. 31, 7:30 a.m. Updated with Friday numbers and revised weekend projections.