‘Ben-Hur’ crashes, ‘Suicide Squad’ stays on top for 3rd week

NEW YORK (AP) — A big-budget remake of Ben-Hur was trampled under a herd of holdovers and new releases at the box office, the latest casualty in a bruising summer for Hollywood.

The Paramount Pictures release, which cost about $100 million to make, debuted with just $11.4 million, according to studio estimates Sunday. That makes it one of the season’s more painful flops, albeit one that never had sky-high hopes.

Instead, Warner Bros.’s much-maligned Suicide Squad held the top stop for the third straight week with an estimated $20.7 million over its third weekend. It’s now made $262.3 million despite steep declines week to week.

Seth Rogen’s foul-mouthed food animated comedy Sausage Party continued to do well for Sony Pictures. In its second weekend, it took in $15.3 million.