Transformers: Dark of the Moon opened to a solid $13.5 million from its late Tuesday /early Wednesday screenings, including $5.5 million from the 3-D-only presentations leading the way Tuesday night. The figures exceed the early grosses from the series' 2007 original but fall short of the $16 million that Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen pulled down at midnight in 2009. Paramount currently anticipates a six-day holiday weekend tally above $160 million; drop back by Movieline tomorrow for our own Weekend Forecast predictions, which will be significantly higher. [Deadline]
"Move, b****, get out the way!" said Cars 2 to Green Lantern as the Pixar sequel burned rubber over all over the competition this weekend. Hey, if Mater and Lightning McQueen can eat sushi and have car doors and live in a world with sidewalks but no humans with no discernable method of procreation in place, Cars 2 can speak in the parlance of Ludacris in my head. Especially when it defies everyone - skeptics, haters, that 34 percent Rotten Tomatoes rating -- to rake in $68M in its opening weekend. Let's review the weekend receipts!
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Critics may have only found Cars 2 to be marginally better than Hop (at least judging from the two films' Rotten Tomatoes scores), but that doesn't mean audiences felt the same way. The Pixar sequel rushed to $25.7 million on Friday night -- well ahead of tracking expectations -- and could wind up with the second-biggest opening weekend in the history of the brand, behind only Toy Story 3. In other surprising box office news: Bad Teacher also exceeded expectations -- and how! With a $12 million Friday night, the Cameron Diaz-led comedy could beat the opening weekend of fellow R-rated girl comedy Bridesmaids, quality be damned. Your Friday box office is here.
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A browse through this weekend's screen counts reveals a few intriguing upswings (The Tree of Life nearly doubling its theatrical presence; watch out, Avon!), a few frustrating downswings (the underseen drama Beautiful Boy tumbling out of theaters almost entirely), and at least one eye-opening surprise: After two consecutive weeks of poorly performing retreat, The Beaver is making a comeback. Will this be the week the troubled Jodie Foster-Mel Gibson dramedy finally clears the $1 million mark?
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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.
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A barrel of bile and backlog of blockbusters didn't keep America from having a go at Green Lantern on Friday, resulting in a healthy (if not astounding) opening day tally. Jim Carrey delivered reasonably as well, while Super 8 tapered off by half in its quest for week-two lucre. Let's check out the numbers; your Friday Box Office is here.
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Surprise! (?) After all that speculation and hand-wringing over Super 8's prospects, the underexposed tribute to summer glories past emerged as something of a summer glory itself. Meanwhile the cluster of blockbuster veterans around it held on in the top five, and at least one wipeout was had by a young lady named Judy Moody. Your Weekend Receipts are here.
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After a week of teeth-gnashing from box office Cassandras, it appears Super 8 will open to pretty much what should have been expected from the non-franchise film. The J.J. Abrams-directed throwback earned $12 million on Friday night (plus another $1 million from Thursday's sneak previews) and could get to $35 million for the weekend. Elsewhere on the charts, X-Men: First Class suffered a big Friday to Friday drop (65 percent), but is closing in on $100 million, while The Hangover Part II and Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides each cracked $200 million. Click ahead for your Friday box office.
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Not to pile on, I swear, but here's a quick follow-up about Love Wedding Marriage, the unilaterally panned romantic comedy featuring Mandy Moore and Kellan Lutz and directed by veteran actor/first-time helmer Dermot Mulroney: After a delay in reporting, last weekend's box-office data now reveals a whopping $1,378 gross on two screens -- a $689 per-theater average, for those keeping score at home. Bummer. Anyway, team, take heart! You could have been in The Life Zone. [Box Office Mojo]
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.
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On Friday, July 14, 2000, Bryan Singer's X-Men earned $20.7 million at the box office, on the way toward an opening weekend of $54 million. Just shy of eleven years later, Matthew Vaughn's X-Men: First Class earned $21 million on Friday night, and should be on course for an opening frame totaling $53 million. Symmetry! Elsewhere, The Hangover Part II dropped 65 percent from Friday to Friday, but the record-breaking sequel still earned $11 million last night. That kind of scratch buys plenty of smoking monkeys. Your Friday box office is here.
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Happy Memorial Day! Especially in Hollywood, where, as alluded to yesterday, the film industry is winding down its most lucrative Memorial Day frame ever -- for nearly half of which the town can thank the team behind The Hangover Part II.
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They came, they saw, the conquered. Again. Todd Phillips, Warner Bros., and the team behind The Hangover Part II -- and all of Hollywood, in fact -- are enjoying a historic Memorial Day weekend at the box-office as moviegoers have made blockbusters of at least two franchises and bona-fide hits out of two art-house darlings. Your weekend receipts are here.
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Following its massive Thursday showing, The Hangover Part II continued to party the night away on Friday. The Todd Phillips-directed film grabbed another $30 million last night, putting Part II on course for a potentially record-breaking weekend; The Hangover Part II could top $90 million over the three days, and $135 million in five. (The Matrix Reloaded owns the top three-day opening for an R-rated film at $91 million.) In more sober news: Kung Fu Panda 2 may only gross as much as Kung Fu Panda did during its opening salvo, despite the benefit of a lengthy holiday. Your Friday box office is here.
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Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides plundered a hair over $90 million this weekend, but thanks to Hollywood expectations and arithmetic, it's a bit of disappointing haul for Depp and his crew. Previous Pirates installments were able to pull in higher debuts, and that was without the benefit of higher ticket prices and 3-D screenings. But Bridesmaids retained the second spot, barely depreciating at all from last week. Sisters are doing it for themselves! And by it, I mean pooping on themselves. Your weekend receipts are here.
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