Aaaah: ‘Don’t Breathe’ takes top spot at the box office

That airy, wooshing sound? It’s a deep sigh of relief from Sony’s Screen Gems and Steve Bersch’s Stage 6 Films. Their low-budget horror movie, “Don’t Breathe,” surpassed “Suicide Squad” and pulled into the top spot at the box office on Saturday. It grossed about $10 million on Friday, and is expected to finish its opening weekend with about $22 million.

The thriller, from Uruguay-born writer-director Fede Alvarez and starring Dylan Minnette, Jane Levy, Daniel Zovatto and Stephen Lang, is about a group of friends in Detroit whose home-invasion plan goes horribly wrong. It’s a notable success for Alvarez, best known for 2013’s “Evil Dead” remake. The film, which was produced by Alvarez and “Evil Dead” series creator Sam Raimi, has an 87% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes and cost about $10 million to make.

The DC Comics/Warner Bros. antihero mash-up “Suicide Squad,” which has suffered poor reviews, led the box office pack the last three weekends. It now follows “Don’t Breathe” in second place, grossing about $11 million so far this weekend. The film has already pulled in more than $500 million internationally.

Sony’s “Sausage Party” and Focus’ animated “Kubo and the Two Strings” took the third and fourth box office spots, respectively.“ Sausage Party” in its third week, brought in a little over $7 million weekend while “Kubo,” in its second week, took in about $7 million also.

The weekend’s other major wide release is Lionsgate’s “Mechanic: Resurrection,” starring Jason Statham, which claimed the fifth box office spot. The sequel to 2011’s “The Mechanic,” about an elite hit man, also stars Jessica Alba and Tommy Lee Jones. It opened at about $7 million.

Overall, it’s safe to say that horror is hot this summer. Recent hits include “Lights Out” and “The Conjuring 2” from New Line Cinema, “The Shallows” from Sony and “The Purge: Election Year” from Universal Pictures.

[email protected]

Follow me on Twitter: @DebVankin