The Butler did it again!
Typically around this time of year, moviegoing slows significantly and this weekend was no different. Once again it was last weekend's surprise winner at the top, as LEE DANIELS' THE BUTLER took the #1 spot with an additional $17 million.
The drama about a White House head servant is proving to be effective counterprogramming to the standard summer options, once more fighting off all new releases as it builds to a $52.2 million total after ten days.
Holding the #2 spot for the third weekend in a row was the Jason Sudeikis/Jennifer Aniston comedy WE'RE THE MILLERS with $13.5 million. It shouldn't be long before it joins THE HEAT, IDENTITY THIEF and THE HANGOVER PART III for R-rated comedies that crossed the $100 million mark this year (THIS IS THE END stalled at $97 million).
Coming in third place was the new young-adult novel adaptation THE MORTAL INSTRUMENTS: CITY OF BONES with $9.3 million (and $14 million total since its Wednesday opening). Despite a 'B+' CinemaScore from paying customers, the latest attempt at a female-fronted post-TWILIGHT franchise was clearly greeted with disinterest, putting it with the recent BEAUTIFUL CREATURES and THE HOST on the list of similar whiffers.
The Simon Pegg/Nick Frost/Edgar Wright reunion THE WORLDS END debuted in fourth place with $8.9 million, which the R-rated genre twister managed to rack up despite being on less than half the number of screens as each of the Top 3 (and it had the highest per-screen average in the Top 10).
The close of the trio's "Three Flavours Cornetto" (aka the "Blood & Ice Cream trilogy") was granted a 'B+' CinemaScore from audiences as well as critical praise (now a remarkable 91% on Rotten Tomatoes), and has also collected an extra $15 million internationally.
Circling fifth place was Disney's PLANES with $8.5 million, followed by ELYSIUM with $7.1 million (the sci-fi/action epic is up to $139 million worldwide). And in seventh was the new home-invasion horror movie YOU'RE NEXT with a $7 million opening. Despite strong buzz and a positive response from critics (80% on Rotten Tomatoes), the low-budget masked terror got handed a mediocre 'B-' CinemaScore from crowds.
Filling out the Top 10 was PERCY JACKSON: SEA OF MONSTERS, Woody Allen's acclaimed BLUE JASMINE (popping onto the list as it added 1000 screens) and the sequel KICK-ASS 2. Outside the chart, 2 GUNS, JOBS, THE WOLVERINE and THE SMURFS 2 dropped from sight, the comedy IN A WORLD is up to $750k on 75 screens, and limited releases of the drama SHORT TERM 12 and filmmaker Wong Kar Wai's martial arts movie THE GRANDMASTER (expanding in the US next weekend — it's already made $55 million overseas) got the most attention.
Next weekend finishes off the summer with the Eric Bana surveillance thriller CLOSED CIRCUIT (on Wednesday), the Ethan Hawke/Selena Gomez vehicular actioner GETAWAY, and the boy-band concert movie ONE DIRECTION: THIS IS US.
What was your favorite movie of the summer? VOTE HERE!
| # | MOVIE TITLE | WKND $ | TOTAL $ |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Butler | $17 M | $52.2 M |
| 2 | We're the Millers | $13.5 M | $91.7 M |
| 3 | The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones | $9.3 M | $14 M |
| 4 | The World's End | $8.9 M | NEW |
| 5 | Planes | $8.5 M | $59.5 M |
| 6 | You're Next | $7 M | NEW |
| 7 | Elysium | $7.1 M | $69 M |
| 8 | Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters | $5.2 M | $48.3 M |
| 9 | Blue Jasmine | $4.3 M | $14.7 M |
| 10 | Kick-Ass 2 | $4.2 M | $22.4 M |