The ComingSoon.net Box Office Report has been updated with studio estimates for the weekend. Click here for the full box office estimates of the top 12 films and then check back on Tuesday for the final figures based on actual box office.
After a record-breaking Memorial Day weekend, June kicked off with only one new movie in wide release. Although Matthew Vaughn’s franchise prequel/reboot X-Men: First Class (20th Century Fox), starring James McAvoy, Mike Fassbender, Kevin Bacon, January Jones and Rose Byrne opened in first place with an estimated $56 million in 3,641 theaters domestically. That’s less than $2 million more than the original The X-Men, directed by Bryan Singer, opened with in the summer of 2000, which has to be seen as somewhat of a disappointment. The lack of the known cast like Hugh Jackman and Halle Berry may have hurt the film’s chances as did the lackluster response to the last few movies despite the movie garnering some of the best reviews for the franchise since X2. It has a long way to go before it makes back its $140 million budget, although it should be helped greatly by the film’s international release where it grossed $64 million in 74 countries this weekend.
Todd Phillips’ comedy sequel The Hangover Part II, with Bradley Cooper, Zach Galifianakis and Ed Helms, tanked in its second weekend, dropping 62% to second place with $32.4 million and $187 million earned domestically to date, making it the third-highest grossing movie of the year following Fast Five and Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides.
DreamWorks Animation’s Kung Fu Panda 2 dropped 49% from the holiday weekend to add another $24.3 million in its second weekend as it reaches the $100.4 million mark in North America.
The fourth installment of the popular Disney and Jerry Bruckheimer franchise Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides took fourth place with $18 million, bringing its domestic gross to $190.2 million. It added another $69 million internationally this weekend, making it the #1 movie internationally for a third week in a row with $790.7 million grossed globally so far.
In fifth place, Kristen Wiig’s R-rated comedy Bridesmaids (Universal) crossed the $100 million mark over the weekend with an additional $12.1 million and $107.2 million grossed in its first month. Produced for $32 million, its one of the most profitable films currently in the Top 10.
Marvel Studios’ Thor (Paramount) dropped to sixth place with $4.2 million, down nearly 56% from Memorial Day, bringing its own total to $169 million.
The hit action sequel Fast Five (Universal) became the first movie of the year to pass the $200 million mark as it added another $3.2 million for seventh place.
Woody Allen’s latest Midnight in Paris (Sony Pictures Classics), starring Owen Wilson and Rachel McAdams, expanded into 89 more theaters, allowing it to add $2.9 million over the weekend to bring its gross to $6.9 million. It’s scheduled to expand nationwide next weekend into over 750 theaters which should allow it at least one more weekend in the Top 10.
Terrence Malick’s The Tree of Life (Fox Searchlight) expanded into five times as many theaters as its record-setting opening but it remained outside the Top 10 in #13 with $621 thousand.
The Top 10 grossed an estimated $155 million, which is up 28% from the same weekend last year when Shrek Forever Afterremained at #1 for the third week in a row with $25.5 million.
Opening in five theaters in New York and L.A., Mike Mills’ Beginners (Focus Features) starring Ewan McGregor and Christopher Plummer, brought in an estimated $135 thousand, averaging $27k per site. The British import Submarine (The Weinstein Company) also opened in New York and L.A., bringing in $40.8 thousand from four theaters.
Click here for the full box office results of the top 12 films.
