But no one could stop Iron Man 3 from keeping its' crown. The superhero threequel did drop on the high end for Marvel movies, down 58% to $72.5 million ($17,053 per-theater average), for a huge $284.9 million gross in just 10 days. The gross was the fourth-largest second weekend ever, behind The Avengers, Avatar, and The Dark Knight. It was also the fourth-biggest 10-day tally ever behind those same movies. Comparing recent superhero movies, Avengers was off a light 50% in its' second weekend, while Thor was down 47% and Iron Man 2 was down 59%. Through the same point, Iron Man 3 is about $90 million behind Avengers (IM3 had much weaker weekday business than Avengers), but roughly $75 million ahead of Iron Man 2. Iron Man 3 may drop a bit harder next weekend as Star Trek into Darkness will arrive to steal some of its' audience on Thursday. But with such a huge advantage on its' predecessor that's bound to get bigger, the final domestic gross is largely expected to pass $400 million, punching Iron Man 3's ticket to the Top 15 highest-grossing domestic releases of all-time. Worldwide, the threequel will become the first 2013 movie and the 15th movie of all-time to pass $1 billion later this week. Iron Man 3 is the fifth $100+ million-grossing movie of 2013.
But, even with Iron Man dominating, there was a new release that actually succeeded in taking in a large audience. Baz Luhrmann's adaptation of the literary classic The Great Gatsby opened huge, to $50.1 million, way ahead of expectations. Playing in around 7,000 screens at 3,535 locations, the per-theater average was a strong $14,169. Critics gave the film relatively mixed reception, while audiences were slightly more positive with an OK "B" CinemaScore, which won't help nor will it hurt word-of-mouth. However, the weekend was a bit front-loaded ($19.4 million Friday vs. $17.5 million Saturday), which may be a sign of front-loadedness in its' run. But still, even with its' somewhat controversial buzz, this is an impressive start, and it was the third-biggest second place debut ever behind The Day after Tomorrow and Sherlock Holmes. With not much direct competition in the weeks ahead, the film may not drop very hard in the weeks to come, and should ultimately be a $100+ million hit. Distributor Warner Bros. was hoping for a $35 million debut, and they co-produced the film with Australian-based Village Roadshow Pictures for $105 million.
Holdovers that dropped hard last weekend recovered a bit this weekend. Michael Bay's Pain and Gain was in third by default with a 1/10th of Gatsby's number. The action flick took in $5 million, off a light 33%, for a solid $41.6 million gross in 17 days, and now looks like it will finish above $50 million.
Meanwhile, the other new release, turned out to be a rare misfire for Tyler Perry (though to be fair, he did not direct or write this film). Regardless, Peeples, despite a solid marketing campaign, managed only $4.6 million in fourth place, one of the least-grossing debuts for a new release this year so far. Critics gave the movie negative reviews, while audiences gave it a "B-" CinemaScore. If history for these movies indicates anything, expect this to drop out of theaters fast, and finish with probably just over $10 million. Distributor Lionsgate spent $15 million on the comedy, and they were projecting a $10 million debut.
Spending five weekends in the Top 5, 42 rebounded with a strong hold, off 24% to $4.58 million, for a $84.7 million gross in one month of release. It will probably fall short of $100 million, but regardless, its' still one of the biggest performances yet for a baseball drama. Oblivion also rebounded, off just 27% to $4.1 million, for a $81.9 million gross in 24 days, but its' too late for it to reach the century mark. The Croods had the strongest hold, down a light 14% to $3.6 million, for a strong $173.2 million gross in eight weekends of release, and will have one more frame with family audiences before Epic opens.
Limited release Mud expanded nationwide and was up 17% from last weekend to $2.5 million, for a $8.6 million gross since its' limited opening 17 days ago. The Big Wedding is having its' guests star to leave, but was off just 36% to $2.5 million, for a weak $18.3 million gross in 17 days. After receiving as bump in double features with Iron Man 3, Oz the Great and Powerful rounded out the Top 10 in its' 10th weekend of release (its' spent nine of them in this list), with a 49% drop to $1.1 million, for a strong $230.3 million gross in over two months of release (its' also earned close to $500 million worldwide).
Internationally, Iron Man 3 remained on top with another $89.3 million from all international markets, pushing its' overseas gross to a jaw-dropping $660 million (the worldwide gross is at $950 million and closing in on the $1 billion mark). Debuting in seven territories a week ahead of its' U.S. release, Star Trek into Darkness debuted to a strong $31.7 million, way ahead of its' predecessor. The film is expected to earn close to $100 million in its' first four days of release in the U.S. The Croods opened in a few new markets and earned another $17.3 million, for a worldwide gross approaching $550 million. Oblivion opened to $8.5 million in China, but besides that, there's not much other foreign news...
