"Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children," from 20th Century Fox and Chernin Entertainment, bested fellow new release, Lionsgate's "Deepwater Horizon" and expelled last week's victor, "The Magnificent Seven." "Miss Peregrine" brought in an estimated 28.5 million in the U.S. and Canada, meeting analyst expectations of 25 million to 30 million in its opening week. It pulled in 36.5 million internationally. "I'm very excited about it. We're thrilled," said Chris Aronson, the studio's domestic distribution chief.

Will "Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children" have a fairy-tale ending at the box office? While its final chapter has yet to be written, Tim Burton's fantasy film is earning pretty good grades at the multiplex so far. The picture about a group of extraordinary children collected 9 million on Friday, according to an estimate from distributor 20th Century Fox. That means the movie is on track to gross around 27 million by weekend's end -- a so-so start, considering the picture cost the studio 110 million to make. The weekend's other big debut, "Deepwater Horizon," lagged slightly behind in ticket sales Friday, with 7.1 million.

Apparently, director Tim Burton would be fine if you retitled his movie "Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children but Only if They're White." In an interview with the website Bustle, Burton was asked why, given the pervasive, ongoing discussion of diversity in Hollywood, the overwhelming majority of the characters (and, hence, actors) in his latest fantasy film are white. "Nowadays, people are talking about it more," Burton said. He went on to talk about how, as a kid, he would've been dismayed to see an Asian kid or a black kid on "The Brady Bunch," or more white actors in blaxploitation movies. Burton's statements are just the latest from a celebrated, veteran filmmaker unable to wrap his mind around why diversity matters.

Tim Burton's new movie about an orphanage for fantastically gifted kids is expected to debut at the head of its class at the box office this weekend, expelling last week's victor, "The Magnificent Seven," from the top of the charts. "Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children," from 20th Century Fox and Chernin Entertainment, is expected to gross 25 million to 30 million in its opening in the U.S. and Canada through Sunday, according to people who have reviewed prerelease audience surveys. That should be enough to unseat Sony and MGM's western remake (starring Denzel Washington and Chris Pratt) that bowed to 35 million and is expected to drop about 50% in its second go-around. "Miss Peregrine," adapted from the popular fantasy novel by Ransom Riggs, cost 110 million to make. Though it boasts high interest and parallels to the X-Men and Harry Potter series, it remains to be seen if the film will prove popular enough to start a Hollywood franchise.