By Chris Kavan - 06/27/11 at 10:17 AM CT
It was a good weekend at the box office, as the top two films managed to beat prospective forecasts and managed to give Hollywood a much needed win compared to last year's numbers.
Pixar had another hit with Cars 2, which debuted in first place with $68 (beating projections of a $60 million opening). It was 4th best opening for a June film and the 5th best opening for a Pixar film. Although 3D was a factor, the 40% of grosses was one of the lowest of the year behind Kung Fu Panda 2, Green Lantern and Pirates 4. As a comparison, Toy Story 3 got 60% of its opening from 3D screens. It remains to be seen whether it can match the original Cars $244.1 million haul.
In second place was another film that performed above expectations. Despite only so-so reviews and audience exit approval, Bad Teacher wound up with $31 million, thanks in large part to a large female attendance. With women making up 63% of the audience, the comedy managed to open better than Bridesmaids $26.2 million debut. If it can maintain an audience as well as that film, it will be a good hit for Cameron Diaz.
Taking a huge hit was last week's #1 film, Green Lantern. Taking a big 65% drop - steeper than both Thor and X-Men: First Class, the 3rd-place film took in $18.5 million and stands at $89.3 million - about on par with Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer, but nowhere near the numbers it need to recoup $200 million budget.
In fourth, Super 8 continued to track well. Though down 44%, the sci-fi adventure took in $12.1 million and now stands at $95.1 million and should have no problem crossing $100 million in the next week. It's done better than Cloverfield and Battle: Los Angeles and should surpass District 9 as well.
Rounding out the top 5, the Jim Carrey kid-friendly comedy Mr. Popper's Penguins added $10.3 million for a $39.4 million total. While it will probably earn back its $55 million budget, it's still on the low end for Carrey.
In the battle of leftover R-rated comedies, Hangover: Part II edged out Bridesmaids coming in 7th and 8th with $5.8 million and $5.3 million, though Bridesmaids took the crown for holding on to more of its audience, dropping just over 24% (compared to Hangover II dropping about 42%).
Still, winning the week for attendance was once again Woody Allen's Midnight in Paris, which dropped just over 8% and landed in 10th place adding an additional $4.8 million to its $28.5 million total. It's now the highest grossing film for the director in 25 years. Although attendance can't be compared to some of his earlier films, it's still a good sign for the director.
Next week will most likely be dominated by Transformers 3 during the longer holiday weekend. For those who want a bit more heft to their drama, Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts team up with Larry Crowne while the tween-friendly Monte Carlo with Selena Gomez will try to muscle in on the action.
