Monsters Remains on Top; Women Beat Men
Audiences kept showing up for Monsters University, which remained the number one film in North America for a second week. But in the battle of the sexes, the ladies easily beat out the boys as the cop flick The Heat with Sandra Bullock and Melissa McCarthy debuted in second , overperforming the Channing Tatum-Jamie Foxx attack picture White House Down. But with incredible variety in theaters driven by several summer staple action offerings, the weekend saw five different films earn over $20 million each over the weekend for the first time this year.
Disney’s Monsters University held onto first place last weekend with a second weekend take of $45.6 million, even after Pixar’s computer-animated prequel dropped 45 percent from its opening weekend. It is being aided by strong word of mouth and received an added boost from moviegoers who wanted to catch the movie before Universal’s highly anticipated Despicable Me 2 opens this Wednesday.
21st Century Fox’s The Heat debuted in second place with $39.1 million. The R-rated buddy-cop action comedy surpassed expectations. The teaming of Bullock and McCarthy was obviously the key driving force in the film’s success, as both actresses continue to display very strong drawing power at the box office. Given the recent box office performances of films starring Bullock or McCarthy, it is very likely that The Heat will hold up well going forward.
On the other end of the box office spectrum was Sony’s White House Down. The pricey action film debuted in fourth taking in $24.9 million. It opened below expectations and an especially disappointing 18 percent softer than the $30.4 million start of this year’s similarly themed and much less expensive Olympus Has Fallen. In addition to opening after Olympus Has Fallen, White House Down isn’t being helped by the stronger than expected performances of both The Heat and World War Z. It remains to be seen whether or not the poor start for White House Down could be a good sign for Disney’s The Lone Ranger when it debuts Wednesday.
Paramount’s World War Z was able to hold off White House Down to place third with $29.8 million. The expensive Brad Pitt flick fell 55 percent from the previous weekend’s stronger than expected debut. Warner Bros.’ Man of Steel rounded out the weekend’s top five with $20.7 million. The blockbuster superhero franchise re-launch has stabilized a bit, but was down 50 percent from the previous weekend.
This Week | Last Week | Movie | Weekend Gross | Cumulative Gross | Weeks |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 1 | Monsters University | $45.6M | $170.4M | 2 |
2 | N/A | The Heat | $39.1M | $39.1M | 1 |
3 | 2 | World War Z | $29.8M | $123.7M | 2 |
4 | N/A | White House Down | $24.9M | $24.9M | 1 |
5 | 3 | Man of Steel | $20.7M | $248.6M | 3 |
6 | 4 | This Is the End | $8.7M | $74.7M | 3 |
7 | 5 | Now You See Me | $5.6M | $104.5M | 5 |
8 | 6 | Fast & Furious 6 | $2.4M | $233.4M | 6 |
9 | 9 | Star Trek Into Darkness | $2.1M | $221.6M | 7 |
10 | 8 | The Internship | $1.4M | $41.7M | 4 |
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.