This late August box office session was pretty slow and offered no quarter for newcomer Ben-Hur. MGM and Paramount’s remake of the Hollywood golden-age classic failed to throw Suicide Squad off its perch. Its $11.3 million second place opening showed once again that audiences aren’t looking for sword-and-sandal movies, and they seem to have grown tired of sequels and remakes. Kazakh director Timur Bekmambetov’s retelling of Lew Wallace’s 1880 epic biblical novel marks the third time the book has been adapted as a live action motion picture. While the 1959 version, with its record 11 Academy Awards and 3 Golden Globe wins cast Charlton Heston as the lead and very successfully went after a diverse global audience, Bekmambetov’s iteration aimed itself rather squarely at a more pious demographic. Lightworkers Media, known for its hit 2013 TV series The Bible, took the reigns and steered the film towards a sober and reverent tone that it hoped might build on the success of its own Son of God and the 2014 phenomenon God’s Not Dead. Whether they were too busy enjoying the last days of sunshine or the film just didn’t generate the religious buzz that guaranteed those three titles a place in box-office heaven, America’s strongest believers weren’t convinced.

Foreign audiences weren’t easily converted either with 24 international markets delivering just $10.7 million. The very Catholic nation of Mexico added just $2.8 million, a fairly low number for what has become the Americas’ second biggest territory. Latin America’s next most important market, Brazil, put in just $2.5 million. An Australian opening is scheduled for next week and the film’s major European roll out will start on September 1. MGM and Paramount are on the hook for $100 million split 80-20 and will be praying for divine intervention to save this biblical bomb. The king of the foreign market was instead Illumination and Universal’s The Secret Life of Pets. The animated exploration of what pets really experience when their owners close the doors and leave, keeps coming back and took away first place from Suicide Squad, adding $45 million to its foreign take and showing a worldwide total of $675 million.

Two young Orthodox Jews opening dry goods business in South Florida sounds like the last thing somebody would want to turn into a movie. But when those dry goods turn out to be bullets destined for the U.S. Army, Iraq and Afghanistan’s U.S.-backed militias and the two men in question become the youngest convicted arms dealers in the nation’s history, you end up with War Dogs. Comedy guru Todd Phillips (Road Trip, Old School, The Hangover) signed on to direct this story about the rise and fall of what the Florida press dubbed the “stoner arms dealers.” Jonah Hill stars as Effraim Diveroli while Miles Teller plays real life partner-in-crime David Packouz. The film follows their journey along a road from mom’s garage to South Beach penthouse to dangerous Fallujah to federal prison that is paved with weed, guns, warlords and incredulous DOD bureaucrats. War Dogs opened with $14.3 million at home and $6.5 million international, taking much of its overseas take from Russian where it grossed $1.9 million and Australia where it made $1.1 million. It moves into England next week with Latin America and Europe following through September.

On second position in the domestic market was Sausage Party, adding $15 million for a total take of $65 million. Domestic newcomer Kubo and the Two Strings came in fourth with a $12.6 million take at home this weekend. Laika Studios made this story about a young samurai’s battle against a mythical demon in feudal Japan for under $60 million. 14-year-old Game of Thrones regular Art Parkinson voices Kubo, the teenage swordsman, while Charlize Theron plays the part of his mother and his father is interpreted by Matthew McConaughey. Laika’s CEO, Nike heir and feature director Travis Knight, took a gamble leading this picture and was rewarded with an A+ Cinemascore from the film’s young target audience.

On the specialty market Werner Herzog’s Lo And Behold, Reveries Of The Connected World, a documentary about the Internet and its increasing presence in our lives, opened day and date with $120k from 39 showings and digital sales through iTunes and Amazon Video.

Next week we’ll look at the launches of Jason Statham thriller Mechanic: Resurrection, Fede Alvarez horror pic Don’t Breathe, and middleweight superstar Roberto Duran’s biopic Hands of Stone, starring Robert De Niro, John Turturro, and Edgar Ramirez.

See the latest world box office estimates: