Flight Risk,” an action thriller directed by Mel Gibson and starring Mark Wahlberg as a balding, unhinged pilot, landed in first place with $12 million from 3,161 North American theaters in its opening weekend.

Chalk up another low-budget success for Lionsgate. After the No. 1 release of “Den of Thieves: Pantera,” the studio has topped the charts again with the Mark Wahlberg thriller “Flight Risk,” which is opening to $12 million from 3,161 theaters amid a wider slowdown for the box office.

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. On a quiet weekend, even for the typically frigid movie-going month of January,

Mark Wahlberg stars in the action-thriller, 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.

Mel Gibson's new action film "Flight Risk" has topped the North American box office, taking in an estimated $12 million on a slow winter weekend, industry analysts said Sunday.

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.