As what many expected, the latest entry in an action franchise opened to blockbuster results. Not only did Fast and Furious 6 give distributor Universal their biggest opening ever, they opened to one of the most massive Memorial Day debuts of all-time. The sixth movie in the series grabbed a huge $97.5 million over the three-day weekend and an incredible $117 million over the extended period, way ahead of analysts' $95-$105 million guesses. Playing in around 8,000 screens at 3,658 theaters, the per-theater average was an unbelievable $31,995 for the four-day. The three-day start was the second-biggest of the year behind Iron Man 3, and was the fourth-biggest launch ever for a Memorial Day opener behind X-Men: The Last Stand, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull and Pirates of the Caribbean: At Worlds End. The film became the years' 8th pic to pass $100 million domestically on Monday. Comparing recent entries, 6 outpaced the $86 million debut of Fast Five to become the highest-grossing opening in the franchise. Strong critical reception and an "A" CinemaScore will allow some great word-of-mouth, but don't expect strong legs, as the films' core audience has likely already come out. But expect this installment to easily crush 5's $209 million gross, and perhaps even come close to $300 million if it isn't totally crushed next weekend. Distributor Universal produced the movie for $160 million, and is certainly starting off what will be an amazing summer for them with Despicable Me 2, RIPD, The Conjuring, and Kick-@!! 2 expecting to get strong grosses. They were anticipating a $90-$100 million 4-day gross.The Vin Diesel, Dwayne Johnson, Bruce Willis and Michelle Rodriguez-starring sixquel is ripping the international box office apart. Earning a smoking hot $158 million from 59 markets, the worldwide gross is already at $315 million and rising. At this point, the worldwide gross could propel as high as $800 million.
Unfortunatelly, the news was not so good for Warner Bros. as its' comedy finale The Hangover - Part III opened to disappointing results. The threequel in Todd Phillip's crassy trilogy earned $41.7 million over the three-day period, $50.3 million over the extended frame, for a $62.1 million gross since Thursday, or less than half of the second movie's $135 million on these same five days two years ago. For the extended frame, the per-venue average was a great $14,138 from around 7,000 screens at 3,555 theaters. The three-day gross actually ended up behind the original Hangover, which clearly represents the very true fact that the wildly successful second movie disappointed many fans of the original, and kept them away this time (some of it is also due to the intense competition in the marketplace). Warner Bros. produced the film for $103 million, so it won't be a disaster, and international grosses will be huge, so it should wind up turning a profit. But, considering the first two were $250+ million grossers domestically and that this one will likely close with around $100 million less than Part II, that's disappointing. The studio was hoping for a $85 million 5-day start.
Despite facing perhaps the worst competition possible, it was good news this weekend for Star Trek into Darkness, which posted a strong hold for both sci-fi and sequels in general with a 47% drop to $37.3 million over the three-day portion, and $47.2 million over the extended frame.. The drop was in line with the original Star Trek, and given the extra day of business, it seems like word-of-mouth is very good for this sequel. The 11-day total is a strong $156 million, or right around the same as the first remake.
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Originally expected to flop, the final new release, animated adventure Epic, overperformed in fourth place. The latest from Blue Sky Studios rallied a solid $33.5 million for the three-day portion of the weekend, which is actually a few million higher that analysts had forecased for the four-day frame (speaking of the four-day frame, it earned $42.8 million). Playing in around 4,500 screens at 3,882 locations, the per-theater average was a good $11,031 for the extended frame. Given the fact that there was no movies out for families since The Croods, it makes sense why Epic did better than anticipated. It opened much better than November's animation flop Rise of the Guardians, and landed just a few million behind Rio's $39.2 million debut back two years ago (the four-day debut is actually slightly ahead of that movie). Still, Epic's debut is on the low-end for original animated fare, and its' the least-grossing Blue Sky Studios' opening yet. Still though, Blue Sky and Fox only produced this for around $95 million, so its' going to wind up being a profitable success. Now will it start a franchise?? Overseas numbers haven't been strong enough to justify that, but no competition until Monsters University on June 21st could be the difference maker. Critical reception was generally positive, while audiences gave the film a strong "A" CinemaScore. Fox was anticipating a $35 million four-day debut.
Disney and Marvel's blockbuster Iron Man 3 continued to play on strong this weekend. Now in its' fourth weekend, the threequel was down 46% to $19.3 million, and a $24.7 million four-day. The threequel has picked up an amazing $372.8 million gross in 24 days, and is widely expected to pass $400 million within the next two weeks. The Great Gatsby is continuing to do strong business in the face of stiff competition, down 43% to $13.5 million over the 3-day portion, and $17 million for the four-day weekend. In 17 days, the literary adaptation has earned a strong $117.8 million, and is set to close around $140 million.
The rest of the Top 10 earned less than $2 million apiece. By default, critically-acclaimed limited release Mud ended up in seventh with a light 13% dip to $1.9 million ($2.5 million 4-day), for a strong $15.1 million gross since its' limited opening one month ago. 42 started to enter its' ninth inning, and fell 55% to $1.25 million ($1.7 million 4-day), for a great $91.5 million gross in seven weeks of release, and should finish right at $95 million. With fellow Fox animated release Epic debuting, The Croods finally had its' audience retreat, and as a result, plunged 60% to $1.2 million ($1.6 million 4-day). Still though, its' been in the Top 10 for 10 consecutive weeks, a feat only How To Train Your Dragon, Avatar, and very few others have achieved. In 71 days, DreamWorks' latest franchise-starter has picked up $179.6 million. Rounding out the Top 10 was Oblivion, which fell 63% to $869,000 ($1 million 4-day), for a $87.5 million gross since its' release one month ago.
Internationally, we already know about Fast Six's incredible launch. But there were other performers this weekend. The Great Gatsby saw its' worldwide gross pass $200 million after a $24.4 million weekend from 49 territories. Epic expanded to 20 more markets and added a solid but unspectacular $23.1 million, for an early worldwide total of $90 million (after Monday being factored in). The Hangover - Part III had very strong openings in the U.K. and Australia/New Zealand, for a $19.2 million foreign opening. Iron Man 3 rounded out the Top 5 with another $17.6 million picked up overseas, for a whopping $1.142 billion worldwide, becoming the fifth-most successful film of all-time worldwide. Finally, Star Trek into Darkness added another $13.1 million from 40 territories, not having its' next markets open until next weekend. J.J. Abrams' sequel is at $250 million and counting worldwide.
