The LA cop tale starring Jake Gyllenhaal and Michael Pena debuted with $13.2 million to finish as the weekend's No. 1 movie, according to final studio figures reported Monday.
"End of Watch" had been in a photo finish for first-place with two other new movies, Jennifer Lawrence's horror tale "House at the End of the Street" and Clint Eastwood's baseball drama "Trouble with the Curve."
"House at the End of the Street" wound up at No. 2 with $12.3 million. "Trouble with the Curve" came in at No. 3 with $12.2 million.
Based on studio estimates Sunday, "End of Watch" and "House at the End of the Street" were tied for No. 1 with $13 million each. "Trouble with the Curve" had been right behind with $12.7 million.
But once the entire weekend's ticket sales were counted, "End of Watch" came in slightly ahead of Sunday's projections. "House at the End of the Street" and "Trouble with the Curve" wound up a bit behind Sunday's estimated revenues.
Eastwood's appearance at the Republican National Convention, when he did a rambling fantasy chat with President Barack Obama addressed to an empty chair, probably had little or no effect on the results for "Trouble with the Curve," said Paul Dergarabedian, analyst for box-office tracker Hollywood.com.
The movie opened in line with other Eastwood flicks, which tend to start modestly but stick around awhile at theaters because he draws older crowds that do not rush out in big numbers over opening weekend, Dergarabedian said.
If Eastwood's convention gig turned off any liberal-minded fans, it probably was offset by the attention his appearance drew to the movie among conservatives, Dergarabedian said. "Whatever he lost on the left, he gained on the right," Dergarabedian said.
The top 20 movies at US and Canadian theaters Friday through Sunday, followed by distribution studio, gross, number of theater locations, average receipts per location, total gross and number of weeks in release, as compiled Monday by Hollywood.com are:
1. "End of Watch," Open Road Films, $13,152,683, 2,730 locations, $4,818 average, $13,152,683, one week.
2. "House at the End of the Street," Relativity, $12,287,234, 3,083 locations, $3,985 average, $12,287,234, one week.
3. "Trouble with the Curve," Warner Bros., $12,162,040, 3,212 locations, $3,786 average, $12,162,040, one week.
4. "Finding Nemo" in 3-D, Disney, $9,641,474, 2,904 locations, $3,320 average, $30,175,449, two weeks.
5. "Resident Evil: Retribution," Sony Screen Gems, $6,701,803, 3,016 locations, $2,222 average, $33,469,530, two weeks.
6. "Dredd," Lionsgate, $6,278,491, 2,506 locations, $2,505 average, $6,278,491, one week.
7. "The Master," Weinstein Co., $4,391,092, 788 locations, $5,572 average, $5,446,975, two weeks.
8. "The Possession," Lionsgate, $2,641,990, 2,598 locations, $1,017 average, $45,291,617, four weeks.
9. "ParaNorman," Focus, $2,345,630, 1,617 locations, $1,451 average, $52,582,728, six weeks.
10. "Lawless," Weinstein Co., $2,286,215, 2,614 locations, $875 average, $34,477,134, four weeks.
11. "The Bourne Legacy," Universal, $1,609,875, 1,431 locations, $1,125 average, $110,402,575, seven weeks.
12. "The Odd Life of Timothy Green," Disney, $1,543,090, 1,752 locations, $881 average, $48,655,828, six weeks.
13. "The Expendables 2," Lionsgate, $1,457,853, 1,820 locations, $801 average, $83,019,805, six weeks.
14. "The Dark Knight Rises," Warner Bros., $1,266,144, 948 locations, $1,336 average, $443,124,014, 10 weeks.
15. "The Campaign," Warner Bros., $1,205,136, 1,250 locations, $964 average, $84,986,201, seven weeks.
16. "Arbitrage," Lionsgate, $1,174,193, 244 locations, $4,812 average, $3,842,700, two weeks.
17. "2016: Obama's America," Rocky Mountain Pictures, $937,524, 1,216 locations, $771 average, $32,022,601, 11 weeks.
18. "Hope Springs," Sony, $856,228, 1,147 locations, $746 average, $62,154,383, seven weeks.
19. "The Words," CBS Films, $755,640, 1,247 locations, $606 average, $11,000,211, three weeks.
20. "Barfi," UTV, $643,260, 130 locations, $4,948 average, $1,977,528, two weeks.