The box office results for Memorial Day Weekend has a blockbuster battle between two heavyweight franchises. Yet The Hangover Part III couldn’t muster up a fight against the mighty crew of Fast & Furious 6. Here are the 4-day studio estimates:
1. Fast & Furious ($120 million)
2. The Hangover Part III ($51.2 million)
3. Star Trek Into Darkness ($47 million)
4. Epic ($42.6 million)
5. Iron Man 3 ($24.3 million)
6. The Great Gatsby ($17 million)
7. Mud ($2.4 million)
8. The Croods ($1.6 million)
9. 42 ($1.6 million)
10. Oblivion ($1.1 million)
Analysis
In what was expected to be the clash of mega-franchises battling for box office supremacy, Fast & Furious 6 took its game to a whole other level. The $160 million production set a personal franchise record with the monster opening along with giving Universal Pictures its biggest 3-day opening ever ($98.5 million). It can also tout the 4th largest Memorial Day weekend all-time, ironically passing The Hangover Part II (talk about rubbing salt in the gaping wound).
As for The Hangover Part III, it looks as if the aforementioned Part II hurt more than anyone could recall back in 2011. Audiences clearly signaled to Warner Bros. that the sequel was in fact a major buzz kill and chose to ride with other franchises (Iron Man 3 and Star Trek Into Darkness included). Ringing up a production bill of $103 million likely won’t help matter, however, there is a chance that moviegoers didn’t want to overload on flick-watching this holiday weekend, and perhaps this could get a boost during the weekly showtimes. But in the end, this is one of the more disappointing letdowns from a financial point of view. When factoring the Thursday night screenings, the grand total has stalled out at $63 million.
The lone newbie that was not a sequel came in the form of Twentieth Century Fox’s 3D animated, Epic. Created for $100 million, this proved to be a nice alternate for the fam-friendly crowd. Next weekend’s performance, and overseas tally, will tell just how “epic” this will be for Fox’s balance sheet.
Iron Man 3 has soared to $372.4 million on the domestic front; good for 22nd all-time. Worldwide, this has hit $1.1 billion (5th all-time).
The Croods currently holds the longest streak in the top ten with 10 weeks. Domestically, it is now up to $179.6 million off a production budget of $135 million.
This Friday Will Smith will attempt to reclaim his throne as the king of the summer blockbuster with After Earth. Also coming to play is the comedic-heist, Now You See Me. Reviews will be right here my fellow Shockers!
