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Posted June 3, 2013 by Seth Paul in News
 
 

Box Office Weekend: Still Fast, Still Furious for a Second Week

Like the out of control vehicles in its previews, Fast & Furious 6 could not be stopped by two big new releases. Its estimated $34.5 million weekend take was enough for the box office smash to become domestically profitable, having earned $170.4 million in its two weeks at the box office. It is even closing the ranks on its predecessor, Fast Five, and is likely to surpass even that film in domestic earnings (though it may not succeed in worldwide gross; it is still $100 million shy of Fast Five’s overseas business). The two pretenders to the box office throne, Now You See Me and After Earth, ended up falling rather flat despite their standings. Now You See Me, the heist film about magicians stealing from corrupt businesses, could not steal the hearts of critics with lukewarm reviews, nor could it charm money out of the pockets of moviegoers with ease, earning an estimated $28.1 million. At least it only has a $75 million budget to make up, unlike After Earth. The $130 million sci-fi epic (and father-son project of Will and Jaden Smith) bombed big with critics and moviegoers, earning only an estimated $27 million, well short of the $40-50 million it was expected to get, and director M. Night Shyamalan once again has an enormous bomb attached to what was once a promising film career.

Fast & Furious 6Star Trek Into Darkness tied with Epic, both films registering an estimated $16.4 million (though Star Trek Into Darkness may have the upper hand thanks to a higher gross per theater), but both films still fall short of domestic success (though both films have done somewhat well overseas, at least enough to cover costs). The Hangover Part III, like its plot element, appears to be waking up and wondering what happened, as its estimated $15.9 million weekend take and $88.1 million overall is not only not enough to make it successful domestically, but also less than half the total earnings of The Hangover Part II. It is doing much better in foreign box office, but even there it lags well behind the previous films.

Iron Man 3 only scrounged up an estimated $8 million, but as the top earning film of the year, it has little to complain about in its fifth week of box office bliss. The Great Gatsby, with its estimated $6.3 million, is also profitable if not the overwhelming success it wishes it could be, earning $128.3 million over its $100 million costs. The big surprise, however, is the ninth and tenth place spots. While Mud (estimated $1.2 million), in tenth, managed to break even and achieve almost unanimous critical acclaim without much in the way of advertising or wide release, it is ninth place Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani, with an estimated $1.7 million, that came from nowhere and made its way onto the list. An import from India, the romantic musical comedy is only getting mild reviews so far, but a spot on the Top Ten list is not a bad start for a foreign film only currently playing in 161 theaters.

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Weekend Box Office (May 31st – June 2nd)

  1. Fast & Furious 6…$34.5 million
  2. Now You See Me…$28.1 million
  3. After Earth…$27 million
  4. Star Trek Into Darkness…$16.4 million
  5. Epic…$16.4 million
  6. The Hangover Part III…$15.9 million
  7. Iron Man 3…$8 million
  8. The Great Gatsby…$6.3 million
  9. Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani…$1.7 million
  10. Mud…$1.2 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."