Bryan Alexander

USA TODAY

Turns out the Ben-Hur crash-and-burn was worse than originally thought.

Final numbers released Monday show Paramount and MGM's saga landed outside of the weekend's top-five earners at the box office — dropping to No. 6 for its opening weekend, according to comScore.

On Sunday, Paramount reported already-bleak estimates that had the remake of the 1959 classic opening at No. 5with a paltry $11.35 million.

But revised official numbers found the saga actually made $11.2 million, knocking it out of the psychologically important top-five position.

Pete's Dragon moved into the vacated spot with $11.3 million in its second weekend, while Suicide Squad easily took the box-office crown for a third weekend with $20.9 million.

Box office: 'Ben-Hur' crashes, 'Suicide Squad' wins again

"The news just gets worse and worse for Ben-Hur. No major movie wants to open wide outside the top five," says Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst for comScore. "This sword-and-sandal remake was a tough sell."

Producers Mark Burnett and Roma Downey (The Bible) couldn't attract the faith-based audience with the Timur Bekmambetov-directed effort, with Jack Huston in the role made famous by Charlton Heston. Ben-Hur received a lowly 28% critical approval rating on the review aggregation site RottenTomatoes.com, while audiences graded the drama an A-minus at CinemaScore.

To compound matters, the saga and its remake of the famed chariot scene cost about $100 million to produce.

The financial picture did not look rosier on the international front: Ben-Hur opened in 23 markets, grossing $10.7 million. But several major international markets are still to come.