I guess it was a bit much to expect people to behave rationally this weekend, which was a massive success, despite the pit in my gut. It set a record for the highest Top 10 box office results for Memorial Day weekend, pulled out the second highest grossing R-Rated release, and gained us a fair bit of traction towards catching up with where we were at the box office last year. It's not hard to beat out last year, which brought the disappointing openings of Sex and the City 2 and Prince of Persia. So why am I not as happy as I'd like to be.Starting from the top, The Hangover: Part II ruled the box office this weekend, aiming at the unbelievably available demographic of college kids just out of school for the summer, not to mention the fans of the first film. I guess I shouldn't be surprised that people will shell out their money based solely on hype for a film as redundant as this. I guess I was hoping for some degree of intelligence. If there had been such, perhaps Kung Fu Panda 2 wouldn't have performed as it did. The first film opened just north of $60 million, and the sequel came in just south of $50 million. Hopefully it will pick up in the coming weeks, but I'm still slightly downtrodden by this outcome.
Other than that, I honestly don't see what's to be upset about. Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides fell substantially enough, as we knew it would. Thor remains the only blockbuster film this summer that didn't take so massive a fall after the first weekend. Bridesmaids continued to hold on well, despite the competition of The Hangover: Part II, or perhaps because of it. It stands to reason that they would make a compatible double feature. The last piece of modestly relevant news is that Midnight in Paris made the top ten, expanding to a mere 58 theaters, so bravo Woody Allen. We'll do a followup tomorrow when the numbers for Monday come in.
2. Kung Fu Panda 2 (First Weekend; $48 million)
3. Pirates of the Caribbean 4 (Second Weekend; $39.3 million)
4. Bridesmaids (Third Weekend; $16.4 million)
5. Thor (Fourth Weekend; $9.4 million)
6. Fast Five (Fifth Weekend; $6.6 million)
7. Midnight in Paris (Second Weekend; $1.9 million)
8. Jumping the Broom (Fourth Weekend; $1.9 million)
9. Something Borrowed (Fourth Weekend; $1.8 million)
10. Rio (Seventh Weekend; $1.8 million)
I'm dissapointed at how Kung Fu Panda 2 did. Apperantly it made aroung 45% of its grosses in 3D theaters so maybe if it was in more 2D showings more people would've gone?
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