CinemaNerdz

Box Office Weekend: Sixth Time Still a Charm for Fast & Furious Franchise

Seth Paul
Box Office

A few big name releases brought in the numbers to the box office, and breaks a welcome streak; six of the films on the top ten made it into double digit earnings instead of just the top three. But the top draw made it all the way into the triple digits thanks to the Memorial Day weekend…Fast & Furious 6 showed the series can still draw a crowd with an estimated $120 million, making a massive debut in its opening weekend. Even with a relatively strong opening itself, The Hangover Part III could not compare, drawing an estimated $51.2 million. Even with an extra day start on Thursday evening, it still only managed $63 million on its opening weekend, which, while still quite good for the $106 million-budgeted comedy, fell short of the 2011 Memorial Day opening of its predecessor in earnings and critical reviews. Star Trek Into Darkness had to settle for third in its second week with an estimated $47 million, the sci-fi blockbuster also doing decent if not spectacular business, still having to rely on foreign box office to make its $190 million costs palatable.

Epic earned mixed reviews and a somewhat mixed box office start, making an estimated $42.6 million, less than half of its production costs, and the worst opening for Blue Sky Productions (better known for the Ice Age franchise) to date. It did do better this week than Iron Man 3, but it is a pyrrhic victory as Iron Man 3’s estimated $24.4 million in its fourth week at the box office continues its triumph as the best earning movie of 2013 so far. The Great Gatsby, director Baz Luhrmann’s $105 million excursion into style over substance, finally broke even domestically with an estimated $17 million weekend take, and can only look on in envy at the Marvel Studios juggernaut it failed to dethrone.

The Matthew McConaughey drama Mud also broke even with an estimated $2.4 million, just barely covering its $15 million costs, but with barely a third of the theatrical release of other films on the list and little advertising it is doing remarkably well. The Croods, too, stays on the top ten for its tenth week, earning an estimated $1.6 million and over $563 million in worldwide sales. With no foreign box office yet to speak of, 42 (estimated $1.6 million) turned in a solid performance with $91.4 million over $40 million in costs over seven weeks. Unfortunately, it appears as if Oblivion will have to rely on foreign gross to cover its meager domestic earnings, as the Tom Cruise sci-fi blockbuster (estimated $1.1 million) failed to generate enough buzz to make it a financial hit, only making $87.6 million here on a $120 million price tag. While not a bomb (it has made $267 million worldwide), to say it did not live up to expectations is probably an understatement.

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Weekend Box Office (May 24th – May 27th)

  1. Fast & Furious 6…$120 million
  2. The Hangover Part III…$51.2 million
  3. Star Trek Into Darkness…$47 million
  4. Epic…$42.6 million
  5. Iron Man 3…$24.4 million
  6. The Great Gatsby…$17 million
  7. Mud…$2.4 million
  8. The Croods…$1.6 million
  9. 42…$1.6 million
  10. Oblivion…$1.1 million

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."
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