Tag: box office roundup (Page 3 of 6)

Apparently minions can take on grown ups and giant robots.

The animated sequel “Despicable Me 2” starring the voices of Steve Carell and Kristen Wiig proved that supervillains have staying power as they reigned over the box office that had two heavy hitters debuting. “Despicable Me 2” took the top spot with $44.8 million in the U.S., bringing it’s domestic gross to $229.2 million. It’s already grossed a despicable $243.2 million overseas.

The sci-fi film “Pacific Rim” was expected to be atop the box office, but came in a distant third opening at $38.3 million. The robot-versus-monster actioner will cause execs at Legendary and Warner Bros. to pull out their hair since the film cost $190 million to make. The film had a lot of fanboy buzz, but not enough to count, apparently.

The big surprise was “Grown Ups 2” which opened this week at second place with $42.5 million. Adam Sandler needed a hit and it turns out that all he needed was to work with his friends to get it. It outgrossed (literally and figuratively) expectations and gave Sandler a chance to laugh at critics who slammed the film giving it a 9% on Rotten Tomatoes.

Rounding out the top 5 was Sandra Bullock and Melissa McCarthy in “The Heat.” The comedy came in fourth with $14 million. The Johnny Depp led “The Lone Ranger” continued it’s slide with $11.1 million.

What megahot sex symbols scored a victory at the box office this week?

Melissa McCarthy and Sandra Bullock, of course.

Women came out in full force to support McCarthy and Sandra Bullock in the cop comedy “The Heat” this weekend to the tune of $40 million in it’s opening weekend. It beat out the duo of Channing Tatum and Jamie Foxx in the political actioner “White House Down, which came in fourth with $25.7 million. “White House Down” disappointed Sony studio execs who had predicted at least $30 million for the big budget film that saw the destruction of the U.S. Capitol building.

Perhaps those execs should’ve read the memo that it pays to be first. It was just three months ago that audiences turned up to the see first White House under attack film in “Olympus Has Fallen”. That film opened to $30.4 million. “The Heat” capitalized on the chemistry with director Paul Feig who also helmed Bridesmaids, one of the most successful female comedies ever. It also cemented McCarthy’s draw as a lead. Get ready to see more of her. Not that that’s a bad thing, unless you’re Rex Reed.

However, neither duo was enough to top “Monsters University.” The animated prequel came in first for it’s second straight weekend with a total of $46.2 million. The next number 1 could also be animated as “Despicable Me 2” will arrive in theaters on Tuesday. It’s already earned $46.2 million in overseas markets. Coming in third was the Brad Pitt zombie film World War Z with $29.8 million. “Man of Steel” brought in $20.8 million to take the 5th spot.

How do you defeat a superhero? Easy, just bring some monsters.

Superman faced some box office kryptonite this weekend as his colossal debut was clearly a thing of the past as two monster themed films opened up in the top two spots. The “Monsters Inc” prequel “Monsters University” brought in $82 million as Pixar proved to be a true superhero in Hollywood. Pixar continued it’s annual box office domination alive with it’s 14th consecutive film to open at No. 1. “Monsters University” was also the second largest Pixar opening ever, second only to 2010’s “Toy Story 3,” which brought in $110.3 million.

Brad Pitt’s “World War Z” was monstrous in a good way, surprising studio execs with an astounding $66 million in it’s opening weekend. Pitt takes on a world nearly overrun by zombies in the thriller. Zombies aren’t cheap as this movie cost over $200 million to make, but “World War Z” is not only Pitt’s biggest opening, but a sequel has already been confirmed.

So, where does that leave the son of Jor-El? Try a distant third. “Man of Steel” pulled in $41.2 million, falling off 65% from it’s debut last week. In just 10 days, the Superman reboot has pulled in over $210 million. How much gas does the Man of Steel have in the tank remains to be seen, but you can’t count out Superman.

The rest of the top five featured The Seth Rogen comedy “This is the End” pulling in $13 million and the magically criminal “Now You See Me” with $7.9 million.

Everything’s better in Lego.

The folks over at Marvel are starting to prove that their heroes are larger than life on and off the screen.

“Iron Man 3” kicked off the summer movie season bringing in $175 million over the weekend, giving it the second largest box office opening ever. This came in second only to last year’s men-in-tights fest “The Avengers”, which is credited to helping boost “Iron Man 3’s” debut. Overall, the movie has brought in over $680 million in worldwide receipts, bringing Disney past the $1 billion mark for it’s 19th straight year.

Although its star, Robert Downey, Jr, left room to speculation that it would be his last time donning the armor, this latest box office development should put that to rest as it’s turning into one of the most lucrative franchises of all time.

No movie lacked the power of old Shellhead, but spring standbys did manage to pull in the leftovers from Iron Man 3. The testosterone fueled “Pain & Gain” starring Mark Wahlberg and Dwayne Johnson” finished 2nd with $7.6 million.

Surprise baseball hit “42” continued to bring acclaim and crowds who liked a different kind of hero, bringing in $6.2 million for the weekend. Tom Cruise’s “Oblivion” came in 4th with $5.7 million. The prehistoric kid flick “The Croods” bright in 4.2 million to take the 5th spot.

A couple of indies managed to make a name for themselves. Mud starring Matthew McConaughey managed to break into the top 10 brining in $2.1 million on only 576 screens (an increase from last week’s 363), but Michael Shannon’s assassin biopic “The Iceman” managed to pull in $93,000 on only 4 screens in it’s debut. That was only on 4,249 less screens than “Iron Man 3”.

Rounding out the top 10…

6. The Big Wedding – $3.8 million
7. MUD – $2.1 million
8. Oz the Great and Powerful – $1.8 million
9. Scary Movie 5 – $1.4 million
10. Place Beyond the Pines – $1.2 million