After a string of major flops like last year’s Cloud Atlas and this year’s Movie 43, Oscar winner Halle Berry entered this weekend in serious need of a hit.

And despite a low budget and mixed reviews, it appears her new thriller The Call brought just what the doctor ordered.

According to box office estimates, the movie opened with $17.1 million, making it her third largest non-X-Men debut.

Sony/TriStar, which acquired the $15 million R-rated film from Troika Pictures, effectively marketed The Call to women, and according to the studio, the opening-weekend audience was 61 percent female and 47 percent below the age of 30 — and it also played very well with African-American moviegoers. The Call earned a ‘B+’ CinemaScore grade.”

Berry’s film beat out the latest comedy offering from A-listers Steve Carrell and Jim Carrey, the magician spoof The Incredible Burt Wonderstone, but failed to unseat last week’s reigning champ Oz: The Great and Powerful which earned just over $42 million in its second weekend.