Monsters Beat Zombies in Theaters
With two new monster hits combining to take in nearly $150M, the North American box office exploded last weekend with the top 10 grossing $226M making June 21-23 the second highest grossing weekend of the year and one of the top grossing weekends of all time.
The Disney/Pixar prequel Monsters University led the way grossing $82.4M last weekend and topping Paramount’s World War Z, which took in $66.4M. Monsters is the second highest opening for all Pixar films behind only 2010’s Toy Story 3, which opened at $110M. All 14 Pixar films, by the way, have opened at number one during their first weekend of wide release. Monsters University tapped into the love for the Monsters characters, which were launched in 2001. Monsters Inc. was Pixar’s fourth release, so not only did Monsters University use the nostalgia for their own characters, they were able to use over a decade of goodwill for the Pixar brand itself.
Second place went to a different kind of monster as Paramount unleashed the zombie flick World War Z. The Brad Pitt movie took in $66.4M last weekend, crushing industry expectations. Z is Pitt’s highest opening weekend soundly defeating 2005’s Mr. & Mrs. Smith (co-starring Angelina Jolie) which opened to $50.3M
After dominating the box office last week, Warner Bros.’ Man of Steel fell two spots to land in third last weekend with $41.3M. That was a 65 percent drop from its record-breaking opening weekend bringing its cume to $210.1M, or, $10M more than Superman Returns made in its entire run. In fourth place was the R-rated comedy This is the End, which fell 37 percent to $13.3M bringing its cume to $57.8M. Fifth place went to arguably the surprise hit of the summer, Now You See Me, which took in $7.9M for a total gross of $94.4M, within ear shot of the $100M club. Remarkable for a film that had almost zero buzz coming into the summer season.
This Week | Last Week | Movie | Weekend Gross | Cumulative Gross | Weeks |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | N/A | Monsters University | $82.4M | $82.4M | 1 |
2 | N/A | World War Z | $66.4M | $66.4M | 1 |
3 | 1 | Man of Steel | $41.3M | $210.1M | 2 |
4 | 2 | This Is the End | $13.3M | $58.1M | 2 |
5 | 3 | Now You See Me | $7.9M | $94.5M | 4 |
6 | 4 | Fast & Furious 6 | $4.9M | $228.6M | 5 |
7 | 5 | The Purge | $3.6M | $59.6M | 3 |
8 | 6 | The Internship | $3.4M | $38.3M | 3 |
9 | 8 | Star Trek Into Darkness | $3.2M | $216.8M | 6 |
10 | 7 | Epic | $1.8M | $101.0M | 5 |
Editor-in-Chief Mark Heckathorn is a journalist, movie buff and foodie. He oversees DC on Heels editorial operations as well as strategic planning and staff development. Reach him with story ideas or suggestions at dcoheditor (at) gmail (dot) com.