In new releases this weekend The Heat scored a terrific $40 million, the biggest opening of either Sandra Bullock or Melissa McCarthy's career. The buddy cop movie received an "A-" from crowds and of course played 67% female- seeing as Sandra Bullock's movies have consistently had strong legs, the ultimate gross for this one could be as high as $200 million, depending on next week's drop (and it's the 4th of July with no other female targeted movies out there, so I doubt it's in for a hefty fall). White House Down, on the other hand, only came up with $26 million, which is pretty much a flop, considering it cost $190 million to produce. Unless it holds really strong (which is possible with another A- Cinemascore from audiences) or is saved by overseas numbers, it'll likely end up in the red. The studio is blaming the release of the nearly identical film from two months ago, Olympus Has Fallen, for stealing its thunder, but hey, whose decision was it to move WHD from a November release to June anyway?
TOP 5
- Monsters University- 44.5 million
- The Heat- $40 million
- World War Z- $29. 2 million
- White House Down- $26 million
- Man of Steel- $20.5 million
As for the holdovers, WWZ dropped less than 50% from last week (which may also account for some of WHD's underwhelming performance- too many male targeted action flicks on the market at once) , and Monsters U held on strong enough for #1 a second time. Next up, it's the long 4th of July weekend, where it's just The Lone Ranger set to square off against Despicable Me 2, which leaves a lot of room for the holdovers to keep dominating.
