Equalizer tops box office

The Equalizer debuted at the top of the US box office this weekend.

The Antoine Fuqua thriller raked in $35 million in its first week, according to early estimates.

Denzel Washington and Chloë Grace Moretz star in the feature, about a man determined to hep a young girl when he discovers she’s being controlled by a group of Russian gangsters.

Wes Ball’s The Maze Runner meanwhile fell from one to two with $17.5 million.

Dylan O'Brien, Aml Ameen, Ki Hong Lee and Blake Cooper star in the film, about a group of boys fighting to escape their entrapment after one of their memories is erased.

Animated adventure comedy The Boxtrolls debuted at three with nearly $17.3 million.

Graham Annable and Anthony Stacchi direct voiceover work from Ben Kingsley, Jared Harris and Tracy Morgan in the big screen adaptation of children’s novel Here Ben Monsters, about an orphaned boy on a mission to save the cave-dwelling trash collectors who raised him.

This is Where I Leave You fell from three to four with just over $7 million.

Shawn Levy directs a star-studded cast, including Jason Bateman, Tina Fey, Jane Fonda, Adam Driver and Rose Byrne in the feature, about the drama that ensues when four adult siblings are forced to live together in their childhood home for a week.

Dolphin Tale 2 held on at number five with more than $4.8 million.

Charles Martin Smith directs Ashley Judd, Morgan Freeman, Harry Connick, Jr., among other stars, in the family drama - a sequel to his 2011 film about a dolphin at the Clearwater Marine Hospital.