The Matt Damon/Neil Blomkamp sci-fi thriller Elysium opened to $30 million this weekend, which is fairly soft, given recent sci-fi openings of Oblivion and Pacific Rim to at least $37 million, and District 9's own performance, also to $37 million in 2009. The reviews were so-so, along with audience reaction as it received a middling "B" Cinemascore, so the legs on this one may not be too strong.
Stronger was the Jennifer Aniston/Jason Sudeikis comedy We're the Millers, which took in $26 million over the weekend, for a total of $38 million since opening on Wednesday. Despite the mixed-negative reviews on the film (41% RT), this goes to show that Jennifer Aniston probably is a draw under certain circumstance- a lot of her movies bomb, but she does have five $100 million dollar grossers to her name, and it might be six after this one's run, given the "A-" rating from crowds.
As for the other new releases, Disney's Planes took in a mediocre $22 million for a film that was originally headed straight to DVD, but with no other family films on the horizon for the next month or so, it may hold on for a decent gross in spite of itself. Meanwhile, Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters opened with a weak $14 million compared to the first one's $31 million a few years ago, so this was basically a sequel nobody asked for.
Top 5
- Elysium- $30.5 million
- We're the Millers- $26.6 million
- Planes- $22.5 million
- Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters- $14.6 million
- 2 Guns- $11.1 million
In holdovers, 2 Guns had a massive drop of over 59% and may not reach that $100 million mark, while The Conjuring has now crossed $120 million and has a shot at passing The Blair Witch Project's $140 million dollar total to become the second highest grossing horror film of all time (behind The Exorcist, of course, which remains untouchable). Next week it's a slew of new releases again, with Lee Daniels' The Butler, Kick-Ass 2, Jobs, and the thriller Paranoia.
