Maze Runner sprints past Johnny Depp in Black Mass

Mobsters, mountain climbers, and teenage racers piled into multiplexes this weekend, lifting the overall box office, but preventing any one film from dominating ticket sales.

"The Maze Runner: Scorch Trails," a sequel to last year`s post-apocalyptic young adult hit, fared best. It got off to a solid start by topping charts with $30.3 million.

Filmed for $61 million and distributed by 20th Century Fox, the picture bowed in 3,791 locations, receiving intense competition from "Black Mass," which likely contributed to it failing to match or exceed the $32.5 million debut of its predecessor.

"Black Mass," a look Boston gangster Whitey Bulger and his unholy alliance with the FBI, has been hailed as a return to form for Johnny Depp, who had squandered critical goodwill with too many "Mortdecai`s" and "Lone Rangers."

Bolstered by a cast of respected character actors and veterans such as Joel Edgerton, Benedict Cumberbatch, and Kevin Bacon cost $53 million to make.

Strong reviews helped push the Warner Bros film to a solid second place finish with $23.4 million across 3,188 locations.

That puts it in line with other Beantown crime dramas such as "The Departed," which started with $26 million in 2006 and "The Town," which kicked off to $23.8 million in 2010.

Then there was Universal`s "Everest," which opted to give a wide berth to gangster rats and futuristic teens by opening in a special, Imax-only run.

The film aped an approach used by "Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol" in 2011, which debuted to $13.3 million before having its wide release.

"Everest" bowed to a sterling $7.6 million across 545 Imax screens, for a per-screen average of $13,867 and a fifth place finish.

The $55 million adventure film stars Jason Clarke, Josh Brolin, and Jake Gyllenhaal.

Its reception is good news for "The Walk," the Sony film about tightrope walker Philippe Petit, which is employing a similar Imax-only debut as a way to generate buzz.

The top five was rounded out by Universal`s "The Visit," which picked up $11.3 million in its second weekend and third place, and Sony`s "The Perfect Guy," which finished with $9.9 million in fourth position.

The films have made $42.3 million and $41.6 million, respectively.

That left "Captive," Paramount`s attempt to wrangle the faith-based crowds that lifted "War Room" to box office heights, with roughly $1.4 million after bowing on 806 locations.

It`s a mediocre showing, but given the film`s $2 million budget, it doesn`t carry a lot of risk.

"Captive" is a true story about a woman (Kate Mara) who gains strength from celebrity pastor Rick Warren`s inspirational books while being held hostage by an ex-convict (David Oyelowo).

In the indie world, Bleecker Street debuted "Pawn Sacrifice," a look a troubled chess great Bobby Fischer, to $206,879 for a per-screen average of $6,269, while Lionsgate got drug war thriller "Sicario" off to a sizzling start of $146,494 from just six engagements.

That translates to a sterling $65,000 per-screen average, the highest this year. "Sicario" expands to approximately 50 theatres next weekend and goes wide on Oct 2.

Overall ticket sales rose 9% over the year-ago period when the first "Maze Runner" and Liam Neeson`s "A Walk Among the Tombstones" topped the box office.