It wasn't what you'd call a surprising weekend at the box office -- X-Men: First Class, The Hangover Part II and Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides pretty much all did what they were supposed to do -- but it was a busy one, with even a little history made by America's stank-face sweethearts. Your weekend receipts are here.
1. X-Men: First Class
Gross: $56,000,000 (new)
Screens: 3,641 (PSA: $15,380)
Weeks: 1
Meh. As noted yesterday by my esteemed colleague Christopher Rosen, Fox's franchise prequel/reboot is on a box-office track not unlike Bryan Singer's 2000 original -- which I suppose would be OK were we not just clubbed over the head for weeks by oversexed marketing, skywriting campaigns, and one of the weirdest publicity-seeking relationships of convenience ever seen in Hollywood. While I did anticipate this turnout, I still think any film as overexposed as X-Men: First Class could have -- and/or should have -- left a bigger opening-weekend footprint. Alas. Will Matthew Vaughn get to come back for the sequel?
2. The Hangover Part II
Gross: $32,445,000 ($186,872,000)
Screens: 3,615 (PSA: $8,975)
Weeks: 2 (change: -62.2%)
A 60-percent drop wasn't as bad as it could have been in week two. Granted it's a sequel, so some legs are built in. But when you consider how some R-rated comedy follow-ups have plummeted after a No.1 opening -- think Jackass 3-D (58 percent drop) or Bruno (73 percent drop) -- Hangover 2 lands squarely in the middle of the pack. Watch for a similar plunge next week.
3. Kung Fu Panda 2
Gross: $24,300,000 ($100,440,000)
Screens: 3,952 (PSA: $6,149)
Weeks: 2 (change: -49%)
Besieged by Wall Street and missing a truly bankable franchise after Shrek, DreamWorks Animation needs to ride this one out and see if they can get to $500 million worldwide. It'll be close, and you won't likely notice when it happens; it's at $186 million now, with openings in key foreign markets like pretty much all of Europe (plus Japan and Australia) still to come. Anyway, don't cry for Jeffrey Katzenberg.
4. Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides
Gross: $18,010,000 ($190,257,000)
Screens: 3,966 (PSA: $4,541)
Weeks: 3 (change: -54.8%)
Speaking of foreign numbers, um, Pirates 4 just crossed the half-billion dollar mark internationally. In its third week. Another billion-dollar Disney haul is in inevitable -- its third in two years, after Alice and Wonderland and Toy Story 3. Amazing.
5. Bridesmaids
Gross: $12,128,000 ($107,255,000)
Screens: 2,919 (PSA: $4,155)
Weeks: 4 (change: -26.7%)
And speaking of amazing, let's hear it for Team Bridesmaids, who this week passed the $100 million milestone and have plenty of steam left for a run into June. Keeping in mind its average weekly drop of 22 percent -- let's be ruthless and project 30 percent drops for the next few weeks -- it still has another $25 million or so on the table. This calls for a Bridesmaids 2 vs. Hangover 3 showdown, summer 2013. You bring the chips, I'll bring salsa.
13. The Tree of Life
Gross: $621,000 ($1,253,000)
Screens: 20 (PSA: $31,050)
Weeks: 2 (change: +66.5%)
Terrence Malick's epic led the nation in per-screen average for the second consecutive week, trailed not too distantly by the acclaimed Ewan McGregor/Christopher Plummer dramedy Beginners at $27,000 per. Can it hold on in week three, diluted a bit by further expansion and battling J.J. Abrams's blockbuster in waiting Super 8? Stay tuned...
[Numbers via Box Office Mojo]