"No Good Deed" collected $24.5 million in domestic ticket sales from Friday through Sunday, according to estimates from tracking firm Rentrak.
"Dolphin Tale 2," the sequel to a 2011 hit about a plucky marine mammal, finished second with $16.6 million.
Last weekend's winner, Marvel's hit space adventure "Guardians of the Galaxy," dropped to third place with $8 million at domestic theatres.
"No Good Deed" stars Idris Elba as an escaped prisoner who terrorises a mother and her two children after he shows up at their suburban Atlanta home claiming car trouble. Taraji P Henson plays the mother.
"Dolphin Tale 2" is a follow-up to a 2011 hit about the real-life rehabilitation of a dolphin named Winter that lost its tail in a crab trap.
In the sequel, the team that saved Winter seeks a new companion for her after her surrogate mother dies.
"Guardians of the Galaxy" features Chris Pratt and Zoe Saldana as members of a group of oddball warriors including a machine gun-firing raccoon.
"Dolphin Tale 2" was released by Warner Bros, a unit of Time Warner Inc.
Sony Corp's movie studio released "No Good Deed."
Walt Disney Co distributed "Guardians of the Galaxy."