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Movie Monday: The Equalizer

 Don’t mess with Denzel Washington—especially if he’s armed with a nail gun.

The Hollywood A-lister proved that yet again this weekend: The Equalizer took an estimated $35 million slice from moviegoers and hammered down the No. 1 position at the box office. You might say it was a constructive victory, plane and simple.

The Equalizer marked the third highest-grossing debut in Washington’s career (behind American Gangster and Safe House) and, according to Box Office Mojo, was the fourth-biggest September premiere in history. That sounds a little more impressive than it actually is, given perpetually rising ticket prices and September being a fairly quiet month at the multiplex: The Equalizer trails such September cinematic classics as Hotel Transylvania, Insidious Chapter 2 and Sweet Home Alabama. Still, fourth place is fourth place.

The Equalizer doubled the take of its nearest competitor, The Maze Runner. The youth-themed dystopian sci-fi flick dashed to another $17.5 million, fending off those evil Grievers for another week. According to preliminary figures, it straight-armed newcomer The Boxtrolls for second place. The creepy-but-clever animated flick packed away $17.3 million and settled into third, presumably nesting in a carton of packing peanuts.

Holdover This is Where I Leave You finished fourth, collecting $7 million, while Dolphin Tale 2 earned $4.8 million to squeak into the Top Five for the third straight week.

Dolphin Tale 2, which had made a concerted effort to woo faith-centric moviegoers to the theaters, performed better than the more explicit Christian story The Song. The movie, predicated on The Song of Solomon, earned just $600,000 and finished 15th.

Final figures update: 1. The Equalizer, $34.1 million; 2. The Maze Runner, $17.4 million; 3. The Boxtrolls, $17.3 million; 4. This is Where I Leave You, $6.9 million; 5. Dolphin Tale 2, $4.8 million. The Song finished in 16th place with about $570,000.