Lee Daniels' The Butler had a small drop off this weekend, holding on to the top spot and falling just 31% for a $17 million take. That's a strong hold, if not as strong as 2011's The Help, and the film has a good chance of crossing $100 million in the coming weeks. That will of course, only help its Oscar chances this fall as more contenders roll out. In second place was We're The Millers, with another small drop in its third weekend of only 25%, pulling in $13 million and amassing a total of $91 million so far. It's on track to outgross Grown-Ups 2 to become the second biggest comedy of the summer, after The Heat, which took in $155 million.
The latest fantasy film based on a young adult novel failed to take off, with just $14 million since Wednesday for The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones, which also received bad reviews and a so-so B+ Cinemascore, so don't expect much more out of this one. And in fourth place, the Edgar Wright film The World's End, third in the beloved Cornetto trilogy (comprised of Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz), opened with $8.9 million, which is a solid number for its theater count of 1500, and a build on the last entry, Hot Fuzz, which opened with $5.8 million. Stateside, these films are the definition of cult favorites, that's for sure. The film also earned rave reviews (93% on Rotten Tomatoes), some of the best of the year, and will likely hold up well over the next month.
Top 5:
- The Butler- $17 million
- We're the Millers- $13.5 million
- The Mortal instruments: City of Bones- $9.3 million
- The World's End- $8.9 million
- Planes- $8.6 million
Further down the chart, the well-reviewed horror film You're Next didn't make much of a splash, earning just $7 million over the weekend, and garnering a disappointing "B-" rating from the audience. Unusual for a horror film, but perhaps the comedic horror aspect was too high concept for fans of the genre. It's a soft weekend next time, with just the Ethan Hawke/Selena Gomez action movie Getaway coming out in wide release, along with the concert film One Direction: This is Us, so it looks like the openers are for the tweens only. Until then!
