'Equalizer' crushes the North American box office with $35 million in ticket sales

LOS ANGELES, Sept. 28 (UPI) -- Denzel Washington's action thriller The Equalizer topped the North American box office this weekend, earning $35 million in ticket sales, Rentrak announced Sunday.

The big-screen adaptation of the popular 1980s TV series casts Washington as Robert McCall, a former CIA agent lured out of retirement to help a young woman -- played by Chloe Grace Moretz -- whose life is threatened by Russian mobsters.

Coming in at No. 2 at the weekend box office is The Maze Runner with $17.5 million, followed by The Boxtrolls at No. 3 with $17.2 million, This is Where I Leave You at No. 4 with $7 million and Dolphin Tale 2 at No. 5 with $4.8 million.

Rounding out the top tier are No Good Deed at No. 6 with $4.6 million, A Walk Among the Tombstones at No. 7 with $4.2 million, Guardians of the Galaxy at No. 8 with $3.8 million, Let's Be Cops at No. 9 with $1.5 million and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles at No. 10 with $1.4 million.