Universal’s favorite action star debuted to decent numbers in this weekend’s box office, while the remaining top 10 stayed relatively quiet.
Opening at number 1 this weekend is Riddick (read our review) with $18 million. Vin Diesel’s third film as the Riddick character was about on par with early weekend projections, although fans might have hoped it would do a little better.
As far as sequel talk goes, Riddick still has a ways to go before making back its $38 million budget, but it should get there. Not to mention, Universal wants to keep Diesel happy now that Fast and Furious has become their bread and butter action franchise.
Lee Daniels’ The Butler holds steady at number 2 with $8.9 million. Now at $91 million total, Lee Daniels’ The Butler is a big winner for August/September, and is showing no signs of letting up.
The number 3 film this weekend is Instructions Not Included with $8.1 million, which is actually a 3% bump from last weekend’s surprising debut. Clearly, word of mouth surrounding the film’s strong showing has fueled it to a solid second weekend and $20 million overall domestic gross.
Coming in at number 4 is We’re the Millers with $7.9 million. The R-rated comedy has been going strong for the past four weeks, and is not showing any signs of letting up. The film is now up to $123 million in domestic grosses.
Holding at number 5 is Planes with $4.2 million. Disney’s Cars spin-off has done very well, all things considered, and has grossed $79 million over 5 weeks.
Falling all the way to number 6 is the concert film One Direction: This is Us with $4.1 million. It’s no surprise that 1D fell so hard in its second week, as these types of films are more about the initial burst than the sustained, deep box office run. Nevertheless, the film has made $23 million over two weeks, which is well above its $10 million budget
In at number 7 is Elysium with $3.1 million, which brings its domestic total up to $85 million. While Elysium is by no means a flop, it’s hard to imagine TriStar didn’t expect more out of District 9 director Neil Blomkamp’s sophomore feature.
Blue Jasmine jumped up into the number 8 spot this weekend with $2.6 million. Woody Allen’s latest is doing very well on about 1,000 screens, and has grossed $25 million in the process.
Coming in at number 9 is Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters with $2.5 million. Although the film was able to work its way back into the top 10 this weekend, its $59 million domestic total is well under expectations.
Rounding out the Top 10 is The World’s End with $2.3 million. Edgar Wright’s final film in his “Three Flavors Cornetto” Trilogy has just barely eclipsed its $20 million budget with $21 million after three weeks. Overall, the film has grossed $38 million worldwide.
Outside the top 10: Paramount’s re-release double feature of World War Z and Star Trek Into Darkness was able to propel the former film over the $200 million mark. It’s worth pointing out, though, that the box office receipts were not evenly split, as WWZ earned $424,000 while Star Trek only pulled in $63,000.
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[NOTE: These are only weekend box office estimates – based on Friday and Saturday ticket sales coupled with adjusted expectations for Sunday. Official weekend box office results will be released on Monday, September 9th – at which time we’ll update this post with any changes.]
