'Straight Outta Compton' rules box office

"Straight Outta Compton" dominated a trio of underwhelming new releases this weekend, providing a little proof of life in an otherwise moribund box office.

The rap drama topped charts for the second weekend in a row, picking up $26.8 million from 3,025 locations and propelling its domestic haul to $111.5 million. That's a tidy return on the $29 million that Universal and Legendary spent making the film about the early days of N.W.A. "Straight Outta Compton" that hasn't been without controversy. The film has been slammed for glossing over its members treatment of women and the blowback forced Dr. Dre to apologize for his actions. Negative headlines do not appear to be taking a toll on its ticket sales.

Of the new films hitting multiplexes, "Sinister 2" performed the best of an inert bunch. The low-budget horror sequel nabbed $10.6 million from 2,766 locations for a third place finish. That's less than the $14 million to $16 million that Focus Features, the studio behind the film, had been expecting to pull in, and it also trails the first "Sinister's" $18 million opening. The good news is that "Sinister 2" cost less than $10 million to make, limiting the studio's financial exposure.

Fox's "Hitman: Agent 47," a second attempt to transform a popular video game series into a successful film one, hit a speed bump, earning a meagre $8.2 million across 3,261 locations. It had been expected to generate $11 million in receipts. Swapping "Justified's" Timothy Olyphant for "Homeland's" Rupert Friend as the titular assassin didn't provide much sizzle, as the latest "Hitman" failed to match the $13.1 million opening of its 2007 predecessor. "Hitman: Agent 47" cost $35 to bring to the screen.

Among holdovers, Paramount's "Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation" had a second place finish with $11.7 million. The fifth film in the spy series has earned $157.8 million stateside.

"The Man From U.N.C.L.E.," an attempt to revive a television show few remembered, earned $7.4 million in its second weekend, edging out "American Ultra" for fifth place. The action film has earned $26.6 million domestically thus far, signaling it will have trouble recouping its $75 million production budget barring a surge in pop culture nostalgia among foreign crowds.

Overall ticket sales were down roughly 7 percent from the year-ago period when "Guardians of the Galaxy" and "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" were still drawing healthy crowds.