It was another great weekend to be Pixar as their first prequel, Monsters University, extended their winning streak to 14-straight movies with the studios' second-biggest result yet (behind Toy Story 3). Monsters, Inc.'s chronological predecessor earned a huge $82.4 million, the fourth-best opening yet for an animated title (behind TS3, Shrek 2 and Shrek the Third), and the fifth-biggest June debut ever. Playing in around 8,300 venues at 4,004 theaters (the fourth-widest debut yet for a Pixar release), the per-venue average was a monster $20,587 (with a low 31% of sales coming from 3D). Considering the 11 1/2 year timespan between the original and this, its' quite impressive that University was able to open (unadjusted) $20 million higher than the original's $62 million debut (adjusted for inflation, however, attendance is a bit off). The original Monsters, Inc. was beloved by many, and so, this prequel wasn't destined to be just a modest success like Cars 2. Usually, an opening like this would point to a finish north of $300 million, but the road ahead looks troubling for Monsters University. Yes, reviews were good, but they weren't as good as the critically-acclaimed original, and despite a strong "A" CinemaScore" from audiences, Despicable Me 2 releases in just 10 days, and will steal its' thunder. Plus Turbo and The Smurfs 2 will help the films' potential legs get cut short. Regardless, this is yet another win for the animation giant, and unless if White House Down or The Heat overperforms (they are tracking for debuts in the high-30's millions), the film should remain on top next weekend. Disney and analysts had forecasted a $70-$75 million debut.Overseas, the film got off to a stellar start, earning $54.5 million from 35 markets, just shy of what The Croods earned from 20 additional markets. That being said, with a lot of competition coming, Monsters University should at least wind up in the same vicinity as that films' $500-$600 million worldwide gross, and could even wind up significantly higher if it opens strong in some major markets yet to open.
Those who thought the second place was going to flop were dead wrong, as Brad Pitt scored the biggest debut of his career with World War Z. The action thriller earned a truly stunning $66.4 million, the second-biggest second place opening gross of all-time, behind The Day After Tomorrow, and the biggest opening for a non-sequel live-action flick since Avatar. Playing in around 7,500 screens at 3,607 theaters, the per-location average was a fabulous $18,412. For Pitt, this put Z miles ahead of the leggy hit Mr. and Mrs. Smith, which earned $50 million on its' debut weekend, his previous all-time best opener. Distributor Paramount needed a franchise-starter and a hit outside of Star Trek into Darkness, and they got it here. Reviews were very solid for the zombie-themed action thriller, and audiences gave it a good "B+" CinemaScore, which should help word-of-mouth. However, its' important to note that competition is very strong down the road, so this probably won't hold well in the weeks ahead. World War Z was produced for around $200 million, so its' going to need a huge overseas take in order to turn a profit. Still though, considering many had predicted this to only gross $40 million for its' opening, this is still quite impressive. Distributor Paramount was hoping for a debut in the $40-$45 million range.
With the one-two punch of the new releases, Man of Steel dropped quite hard in its' sophomore frame. The Superman reboot fell 65% to $41.3 million, for a 10-day total of a strong $210.1 million, already $10 million ahead of Superman Returns' $200 million final gross. This is still an alarming drop for a movie that opened to a huge $128 million over 3.25 days, and guarantees its' chances at catching up with Iron Man 3 are zero. Still though, even with rough competition ahead, I think the movie will still pass $300 million before its' done, giving Warner Bros. a franchise-starter here.
The rest of the Top 5 were well-received counter-programming that held well. This is the End was down a light 36% to $13.3 million, for a 12-day gross of $58.1 million. That's a great hold, but with The Heat launching on Friday, it may be too late for it to get to $100 million. On the other hand, Now You See Me eased 29% to $7.9 million, and has spent four weeks in the Top 5. The magician crime sleeper has earned $94.5 million in 24 days, and will pass the century mark next weekend.
As for the rest of the holdovers, there's little to be desired. Fast and Furious 6 had no choice but to fall another 49% to $4.9 million, as its' time with audiences is winding up. Regardless, the sixth installment in the blockbuster franchise has been in the black for a while now, and has earned a huge $228.6 million to date. The Purge came in a distant seventh with a 57% plunge to $3.6 million, two weeks after it earned nearly 10 times that. However, with a strong $59.6 million in 17 days, the horror flick is on pace to wind up with 20 times its' $3 million budget. The Internship was down 52% to an estimated $3.4 million, for a stale $38.3 million in the same amount of time.
Star Trek into Darkness couldn't stabilize either due to the huge amount of competition, and was down 49% to $3.2 million, for a very solid $216.8 million in 37 days. Playing at the back-end of some of Monsters University's double-feature shows, Iron Man 3 rounded out the Top 10 once again in its' eighth weekend, off a Top 10-best 25% to $2.2 million, for a gargantuan $403.2 million in 56 days. The threequel will pass Spider-Man within the next few days to take fourth place domestically among superhero flicks, behind The Avengers, The Dark Knight and The Dark Knight Rises.
In milestone news, Epic became the 11th movie of 2013 to pass $100 million stateside on Saturday, though it was hurt badly by Monsters University, coming in 12th place and dropping nearly 75% from last weekend. The latest from Blue Sky Studios will finish as a bit of a disappointment domestically for Fox, but has done decently overseas, and it will probably end up with around $300 million worldwide.
Man of Steel topped the international circuit with $89 million from 52 markets, bringing its' worldwide tally to near $400 million. Monsters University and World War Z debuted in around 40 percent of the foreign marketplace (on average) and earned very strong tallies of $54.4 million and $45.8 million. Fast and Furious 6 earned another $11.6 million from 62 markets, for a stunning $665 million worldwide total thus far. No updated grosses from most else, though Despicable Me 2 got off to a strong $6.4 million start in Australia, coming in ahead of Monsters University's debut there.
