The R-rated comedy sequel, The Hangover Part II, easily topped the Memorial Day weekend box office as it scored the best opening of all time for a comedy by grossing $137.4 million, the highest 5-day total for any R-rated movie in Hollywood history. In spite of generally poor reviews (only 36% positive on Rotten Tomatoes), which blasted it for being "the same story, in a different location," The Hangover Part II’s opening dwarfed the $45 million debut of its predecessor. A huge holiday weekend audience that was 51% female and 54% under 25 made The Hangover Part II the 4th highest grossing Memorial Day movie of all time and helped give the box office top ten a much-needed 48% boost over the 2010’s end-of-May holiday weekend when Shrek Forever After topped the charts with $57.1 million.
The Hangover Part II earned a solid "A-" CinemaScore, which indicates that it should be able to generate some decent "legs," though it is unlikely to match the performance of the first Hangover, which earned the astounding total (for a comedy) of $277.8 million domestically. If The Hangover Part II does have anything like the longevity of its predecessor, its appeal to the 18-25 crowd could cut into the grosses of the major superhero releases in June, though it should be noted that few sequels ever manage to come close to matching the staying power of a popular franchise originator.
| Weekend Box Office (Studio Estimates): May 27 - 29, 2011 | ||||||
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| Film | Weekend Gross | Screens | Avg./ Screen | Total Gross | Wk# |
| 1 | The Hangover Part II | $86,035,000 | 3,615 | $23,799 | $117,645,000 | 1 |
| 2 | Kung Fu Panda 2 | $47,835,000 | 3,925 | $12,187 | $53,635,000 | 1 |
| 3 | Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides | $39,592,000 | 4,164 | $9,508 | $153,187,000 | 2 |
| 4 | Bridesmaids | $16,550,000 | 2,958 | $5,595 | $85,157,000 | 3 |
| 5 | Thor | $9,400,000 | 3,296 | $2,852 | $159,745,000 | 4 |
| 6 | Fast Five | $6,439,000 | 2,982 | $2,159 | $195,848,000 | 5 |
| 7 | Midnight in Paris | $1,930,000 | 58 | $33,276 | $2,835,000 | 2 |
| 8 | Something Borrowed | $1,860,000 | 1,440 | $1,292 | $34,774,000 | 4 |
| 9 | Rio | $1,825,000 | 1,672 | $1,092 | $134,866,000 | 7 |
| 10 | Jumping the Broom | $1,825,000 | 939 | $1,944 | $34,106,000 | 4 |
The Hangover Part II earned a solid "A-" CinemaScore, which indicates that it should be able to generate some decent "legs," though it is unlikely to match the performance of the first Hangover, which earned the astounding total (for a comedy) of $277.8 million domestically. If The Hangover Part II does have anything like the longevity of its predecessor, its appeal to the 18-25 crowd could cut into the grosses of the major superhero releases in June, though it should be noted that few sequels ever manage to come close to matching the staying power of a popular franchise originator.
While The Hangover sequel killed, Dreamworks’ Kung Fu Panda 2 has to rate as a mild disappointment. In spite of a lack of competition for the family audience and higher 3-D ticket prices Kung Fu Panda 2 earned an estimated $48 million over the 3-day weekend versus the $66.6 million amassed by the original Kung Fu Panda. The good news for Dreamworks is that the Panda sequel earned a “A” Cinemascore from its audience along with an 80% approval rating from the critics.
Still, it appears that the bloom is off the 3-D rose. Panda earned only 45% of its take from 3-D showings as audiences preferred the cheaper 2-D showings. Couple this with the fact that Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides earned just 47% of its total from 3-D, and it appears that the days when films like Avatar and Alice in Wonderland brought in nearly 70% of their totals from extra-dimensional showings are over, at least for all but the most exceptional 3-D film. Will 3-D’s diminishing luster have consequences for Warner Bros. Green Lantern, or Paramount’s Transformers: Dark of the Moon, or any of the other 3-D tentpoles set to unspool this summer? Are superhero fans more likely to embrace the extra dimension? Thor got 60% of its opening weekend business from showings that required glasses, which looks like a pretty good number for the summer of 2011.
Still, it appears that the bloom is off the 3-D rose. Panda earned only 45% of its take from 3-D showings as audiences preferred the cheaper 2-D showings. Couple this with the fact that Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides earned just 47% of its total from 3-D, and it appears that the days when films like Avatar and Alice in Wonderland brought in nearly 70% of their totals from extra-dimensional showings are over, at least for all but the most exceptional 3-D film. Will 3-D’s diminishing luster have consequences for Warner Bros. Green Lantern, or Paramount’s Transformers: Dark of the Moon, or any of the other 3-D tentpoles set to unspool this summer? Are superhero fans more likely to embrace the extra dimension? Thor got 60% of its opening weekend business from showings that required glasses, which looks like a pretty good number for the summer of 2011.
Speaking of the latest Pirates movie, it dropped 56% in its sophomore session, not a bad result for a major action tentpole these days, though Disney was hoping to get a little more of boost from the Memorial Day weekend, which is traditionally one of the best movie-going frames of the year. However, even though American audiences appear to be losing their taste for the mincing exploits of Captain Jack that is certainly not the case overseas where the film has already earned $470.8 million, giving it a total worldwide gross $623.7 million. On Stranger Tides still has an outside chance of earning a billion dollars at the box office, which would mean that it will likely have to bring in at least $750 million overseas.
Competition from The Hangover Part II didn’t faze the R-rated Bridesmaids, which fell off only 21% over the weekend. The raunchy fem-centric comedy starring the hugely talented Kristen Wiig was produced for $32.5 million and has already earned nearly $90 million with no signs of any slow down in interest after 3 weekends in theaters.
Marvel Studios’ Thor also keeps chugging right along. The Kenneth Branagh-helmed pic brought in another $12 million to bring its domestic total to $162.4 million. It has now earned more than the first installments of the X-Men, Fantastic Four, and Hulk franchises, though higher ticket prices have played a significant role. So far Thor, which opened overseas first, has earned $253.1 million outside the U.S. for a worldwide total of $416 million. With X-Men: First Class getting great reviews in the trades, it appears that Marvel is off to a great start in the theaters this summer.
Meanwhile Universal’s Fast Five has earned $197.5 million and appears to be poised to become the first 2011 film to pass the $200 million mark, though its days as the top-grossing movie of the year are clearly numbered.
Sony’s Priest, which fell out of the top ten during its third weekend, has now earned $27.6 million, and will likely end up with just over $30 million in domestic box office revenue.
Next weekend things really get interesting with the release of X-Men: First Class, which has already generated major buzz from Internet fan reviews of overseas screenings and from the critics (as of Monday, the film had a perfect score of 100% on Rotten Tomatoes based on 20 out of 20 positive reviews).
