And you thought X-Men: First Class was disappointing! Despite being in 3-D -- and despite an avalanche of marketing over the last two months -- Green Lantern could only ("only") muster $52.6 million over the weekend. That's just under $4 million less than the two dimensional First Class earned during its opening frame. Elsewhere, Super 8 had a sorta super hold, and Mr. Popper's Penguins did the opposite of popping in third place. Your weekend receipts are here.
1. Green Lantern
Gross: $52,685,000 (new)
Screens: 3,816 (PSA: $13,806)
Weeks: 1
It seems audiences were right with critics in their collective dislike of Green Lantern. The film dipped an alarming 22 percent from Friday to Saturday, meaning it could be hard for the Ryan Reynolds-led film to earn green in the coming weeks. Fun fact, courtesy of Box Office Guru's Gitesh Pandya: Green Lantern sold 35 percent fewer tickets than Batman & Robin did during its opening weekend.
2. Super 8
Gross: $21,250,000 ($72,781,000)
Screens: 3,408 (PSA: $6,235)
Weeks: 2 (change: -40.1%)
Well, will you look at that. Despite box office naysayers still naysaying after Super 8 debuted at No. 1 during its opening weekend, the J.J. Abrams-directed film dipped just 40 percent in weekend two -- a Herculean hold in the front-loaded economics of the summer movie season -- and could challenge Bridesmaids for the title of Sleeper Hit of the Summer. Fingers crossed, though, that this doesn't push anyone at Paramount to start planning Super 8: The Sequel.
3. Mr. Popper's Penguins
Gross: $18,200,000 (new)
Screens: 3,339 (PSA: $5,451)
Weeks: 1
A similar opening to Yes Man for Jim Carrey, which is not necessarily a good thing. After all, Mr. Popper's Penguins is a kids film opening in June against a soft Green Lantern; Yes Man opened three years ago in December against Will Smith's Seven Pounds and topped the box office charts. Maybe it is time to resurrect Bruce Almighty.
4. X-Men: First Class
Gross: $11,500,000 ($119,925,000)
Screens: 3,375 (PSA: $3,407)
Weeks: 3 (change: -52.3%)
With a budget near a reported $160 million (plus untold millions spent on the tawdry marketing campaign), you have to wonder how much X-Men: First Class has to gross before Twentieth Century Fox will greenlight a sequel. Right now it's at $253.8 million in ticket sales worldwide, without the benefit of 3-D. Is that enough for X-Men: Second Class 3-D to become a thing?
5. The Hangover Part II
Gross: $9,635,000 ($232,674,000)
Screens: 3,460 (PSA: $2,785)
Weeks: 4 (change: -45.5%)
People are still seeing this one. Sobering stat of the day: The Hangover Part II has earned an estimated $488 million worldwide after four weeks -- making it the top-grossing R-rated comedy ever globally. No wonder Thailand is embracing its portrayal.
14. The Art of Getting By
Gross: $700,000 (new)
Screens: 610 (PSA: $1,148)
Weeks: 1
It's a small release, sure -- but yikes: the eighth weekend of Fast Five had a better per screen average than this Fox Searchlight teen indie romance. (500) Days of Bummer is more like it.
[Numbers via Box Office Mojo]