Mark Wahlberg stars in the genre pic, which marks Gibson's first directorial effort in nearly a decade. Elsewhere, Steven Soderbergh's artsy haunted house thriller 'Presence' opened in 1,750 cinemas.

Elsewhere, "Mufasa" holds strong at second, "Presence" makes its box office debut, and "The Brutalist" expands to maintain its footing in the top 10.

Critics lambasted it and audiences didn’t grade it much better. But despite the turbulence, Mel Gibson’s “Flight Risk” managed to open No. 1 at the box office with a modest $12 million, according to studio estimates Sunday.