It turns out that audiences were receptive to
Super 8, a beautifully realized and thrillingly
entertaining coming-of-age/sci-fi film from writer-director J.J. Abrams and producer Steven
Spielberg. Fueled by some last minute Twitter-orchestrated sneak previews and some online
footage that teased the film's intergalactic foe, the movie netted a cool $37 million this
weekend ($38 if you include the midweek Twitter sneak peeks). Audiences seemed to enjoy
the film, giving it a Cinemascore of B+, and strong word of mouth should carry it through a
few more weekends of success. While this probably won't topple some of the studio
juggernauts, this should fit comfortably in the "sleeper hit" range, when all is said and done.
In its second week out, Matthew Vaughn's hellzapoppin'
X-Men: First Class had a
sharp decline, down 55% from last weekend, with a not-too-shabby $25 million (which brings
its total to just under $100 million). The movie, which is getting shortchanged from
audiences, for reasons I can't quite figure out, is one of the better pop entertainments this
summer. It's baffling to me that a movie this handsomely produced and well acted can be
virtually ignored. But that seems to be what's happening. Weird.
The odious
The Hangover, Part II, arguably the worst major release of
2011, is also now the biggest domestic grosser of 2011 – its $18.5 million this weekend
brought its grand total to $216.5 million, besting
Pirate of the
Caribbean's $208.7 to-date haul (
Pirates, as it was noted last week, is by
far the worldwide champion, with more than $600 million). Congratulations, America – you
have awful taste.
The other debut film this weekend, Relativity's
Judy Moody and the NOT Bummer
Summer, made a weak debut at #7 with $6.2 million. I don't know who's going to break
it to Judy Moody, but it looks like her summer is very much going to be a big ole bummer.
On the art house scene,
Midnight in Paris continues its ascent. After its ridiculously
profitable run in limited release, Sony decided to bump up its platform release by a couple of
weeks, unleashing it in 944 theaters this weekend for a tidy $6.1 million. It's looking like this
will triumph as Woody's most successful film in decades (if not ever), with Oscar talk already
starting.
And speaking of Oscar talk, Terrence Malick's difficult, beautiful, dinosaur-heavy
Tree of
Life is inching towards the top 10 as it continues its nationwide expansion (it'll be
everywhere on July 8th). This week it was narrowly outside the top 10, coming in at #11
with $875,000 from just 47 theaters. Not too shabby!
- #1 Super 8 (Paramount) - $37 million
- #2 X-Men: First Class (Fox) - $25 million
- #3 The Hangover, Part II (Warner Bros) - $18.5 million
- #4 Kung Fu Panda 2 (DreamWorks Animation) - $16.6 million
- #5 Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (Disney) - $10.8 million
- #6 Bridesmaids (Universal) - $10.1 million
- #7 Judy Moody and the NOT Bummer Summer (Relativity Media) - $6.1
million
- #8 Midnight in Paris (Sony Pictures Classics) - $6.1 million
- #9 Thor (Paramount) - $2.3 million
- #10 Fast Five (Universal) - $1.7 million