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Posted June 9, 2013 by Seth Paul in News
 
 

Box Office Weekend: Fast & Furious Purged from Top Spot

It may be receiving mixed to poor reviews, but it was not enough to stop The Purge from knocking Fast & Furious 6 from the top spot at the box office this week. For most other films on the list, an estimated $36.4 million might be considered a slow start, but with The Purge reporting a $3 million budget, it is far and away a success regardless of critical reception, and a second solid weekend could spell the beginning of a new horror/thriller franchise. Not to be outdone, though, Fast & Furious 6 racked up an estimated $20 million, not only making the film a success here and overseas, but if it makes even half of its take next weekend, it will easily top Fast Five as the highest-earning film in the franchise.

The PurgeNow You See Me made an estimated $19.5 million, and while it did not exactly make the disappearing act its critical reception would make one think it would, it has not exactly made headlines either, still $14 million away from breaking even domestically…a task it is capable of doing, unlike newcomer The Internship. The Owen Wilson/Vince Vaughan team-up is nowhere as liked or as successful as 2005’s Wedding Crashers (to which it will inevitably be compared), making only an estimated $18.1 million on a $58 million budget. Epic, though doing well enough overseas, still struggles domestically, earning an estimated $12.1 million and still falling short of its $100 million budget after three weeks.

Star Trek Into Darkness finally became profitable in week four, earning an estimated $11.7 million and breaking its $200 million budget. It still lags behind its predecessor in terms of earnings, but certainly not by much…at least, not enough to prevent another sequel from being made. After Earth, however, may not see its proposed sequels in the making as its estimated $11.2 million brings its domestic totals to $46.6 million, the amount its investors were hoping to make in its first weekend alone. At $130 million to make, it has the markings of box office bomb written all over it…even counting foreign ticket sales.

The Hangover Part III, with an estimated $7.4 million, came within inches of breaking even domestically, but still fails to enjoy the success of the previous movies, while Iron Man 3 can bask in the knowledge that its estimated $5.8 million weekend take (and $394.3 million domestic totals) ensures it as one of the top films of the year, if not the top film of the year, considering how other blockbusters have fallen so flat in comparison. With Man of Steel coming out next weekend, it remains to be seen if DC has the opportunity to push Marvel Studios out of the top spot in superhero epics.

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Oh, and The Great Gatsby made an estimated $4.2 million and made an admirable $136.2 million domestic, though its success is a fairly quiet one considering the buzz (positive and negative) surrounding everything else that has come out since.

Weekend Box Office (June 7th – June 9th)

  1. The Purge…$36..4 million
  2. Fast & Furious 6…$20 million
  3. Now You See Me…$19.5 million
  4. The Internship…$18.1 million
  5. Epic…$12.1 million
  6. Star Trek Into Darkness…$11.7 million
  7. After Earth…$11.2 million
  8. The Hangover Part III…$7.4 million
  9. Iron Man 3…$5.8 million
  10. The Great Gatsby…$4.2 million
Seth Paul

Seth Paul

When not failing to write novels and screenplays, box-office guru Seth writes humorous comedy tracks for films under the name "The One Man Band" that can be found at Rifftrax.com. Although, he has recently succeeded in writing the novella "Jack Alan and the Case of the Not-Exactly Rocket Scientists," available as an eBook on Amazon. He is also the English voice of Zak in "Zak McKracken: Between Time and Space."