For the first time in three years (and third time in the last seven years), Pixar held onto the top spot for a second-straight weekend. Monsters University fended off two strong contenders to keep the top spot, and becoming the third movie this summer to keep the top spot for two-straight weeks (after Iron Man 3 and Fast and Furious 6). The animated prequel was off a decent 45% to $45.6 million, for a strong 10-day gross of $170.4 million. That's a much stronger hold than Cars 2 (60%) and was also a bit stronger than Brave (49%) and even Toy Story 3 (46%). That's a good sign for word-of-mouth, and it would normally signal a long run. However, the students of M.U. will have a huge challenge on Tuesday evening, facing off against the ever-so-popular Minions from Despicable Me 2, which is already tracking for a massive debut over the 4th of July frame. Fellow Disney movie The Lone Ranger also opens then and won't make things easy either. But even if it drops hard, a final gross above Monsters, Inc.'s $255 million domestic gross is now just about a guarantee. Overseas numbers are proving to be very strong as well.
Despite Monsters being on top, there was still room for a strong runner-up. Melissa McCarthy and Sandra Bullock scored the top debuts ever for their careers with The Heat. The R-rated comedy debuted to a strong $39.1 million, for a per-venue average of a strong $12,296 from around 4,700 screens at 3,181 theaters. That was stronger than Identity Thief's $35 million debut from earlier this year, and was exactly the same as Magic Mike from last year. Considering the strong anticipation, Heat outpaced most modest expectations, which had projected a low to mid 30's millions debut. With good reviews and a strong "A-" CinemaScore, with very little competition down the road, it would seem Heat is destined for a long run similar to last year's Bridesmaids ($26 million opening, $165 million final gross). The film was produced for $43 million for distributor 20th Century Fox, and they were expecting $30 million for its' debut.
World War Z had a fantastic start last weekend, and, as expected, it did drop fairly hard this frame (though not as hard as it could've been). Brad Pitt's action hit dropped 55% to $29.8 million, for a strong $123.7 million gross in 10 days. It will be hard for this film to reach $200 million, which means the huge $190 million budget will need huge overseas grosses to turn a significant profit.
Shockingly, a movie that was tracking strong strong severely underwhelmed (most likely due to competition). Channing Tatum's winning streak has been broken with White House Down, which debuted in fourth place to a stagnant $24.9 million, for a per-venue average of a decent $7,713 from around 5,000 screens at 3,222 theaters. That's well below expectations, which varied from the mid-30's millions to low-40's millions. Considering its' bloated $150 million budget, this is a second-straight action misfire for Sony, after After Earth (the studio is having a hard summer so far). It seemed imminent that with names like Tatum and Jamie Foxx this movie would succeed, but with a marketplace overly-crowded with action fare, it just was held down by intense competition. It didn't help either that another D.C.-themed annihilation film, Olympus Has Fallen, debuted to higher numbers three months ago. Reviews were mixed, while audiences liked what they saw, giving the film a "A-" CinemaScore. It could hold on well in the weeks ahead, but don't expect this to be a $100 million grosser. Sony was hoping for a mid-30's millions debut.
Man of Steel couldn't quite overcome the competition, and was off another 50% to $20.7 million, for a 17-day gross of a huge $248.6 million, becoming the years' second-biggest movie so far. The film should stabilize from here, and could still reach $300 million. (NOTE: This is the first time ever where the Top 5 earned over $20 million apiece). In a distant sixth, This is the End held well in the face of The Heat, and was down 35% to $8.7 million, for a strong $74.7 million gross in 19 days. Should it continue to stabilize, the century mark may very well be reachable. Another leggy hit, Now You See Me, continued to be a trouper, off 29% to $5.6 million. With $104.8 million in one month of release, the crime drama could finish with near $120 million, about 4 times its' opening weekend.
In a further distant eighth, Fast and Furious 6 began to wrap up its' run, and was off 50% to $2.4 million, for a $233.4 million gross in 37 days of release. Star Trek into Darkness held better, off 33% to $2.1 million, for a strong $220.6 million gross in 44 days. Rounding out the Top 10 was The Internship, one of this summer's very few misfires so far, was down 58% to $1.4 million, for a poor $41.7 million gross in 24 days with not much further to go.
Overseas, World War Z expanded to a handful of other markets and earned a very strong $70.1 million from 50 territories, pushing its' worldwide gross past $250 million. At this point, a final worldwide gross at least close to $500 million is likely. Man of Steel added $52.2 million from almost all overseas markets, pushing its' worldwide gross past $500 million. Monsters University expanded to around 50% of the international marketplace and added $44.2 million for a worldwide take above $300 million so far. Despicable Me 2 kicked off its' foreign run with a huge $41.5 million in just seven markets, and could prove to be a massive global phenomenon. In a very distant fifth place, After Earth earned $10 million from 73 markets, pushing its' worldwide gross to near $200 million. With still two major markets to go, Will and Jaden Smith's sci-fi actioner could wind up a minor success overall, with nearly $300 million worldwide.
