Weekend Box Office Update

Summer ticket sales are starting to slow down, but that didn't stop The Butler from earning an impressive $25 million in its opening weekend, taking first place at the US box office. This is a movie that The Weinstein Company is likely to push during award season, so it could have long legs at the box office and nearly made back its $30 million production budget in it's first weekend. In second place, the R-rated We're the Millers added another $17.7 million to its total and has earned $69.5 million since opening.

Nothing else in the top ten was terribly impressive this week. Elysium didn't turn out to be the big hit Sony hoped for and Kick-Ass 2 opened a good bit lower than the opening weekend for Kick-Ass, which we're sure was unexpected for Universal, especially with the addition of Jim Carrey to the cast.

Pacific Rim and World War Z are out of the top ten in the US, but are still performing well internationally. Pacific Rim is close to reaching the $400 million mark worldwide, while World War Z is getting close to $525 million. The international sales for both films are what's responsible for Warner Bros. and Paramount moving forward with sequels.

Next week sees the release of The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones, The World's End, and You're Next. Here are the top ten US box office results for this weekend:

1. Lee Daniels’ The Butler - $25,010,000
2. We’re the Millers - $17,780,000
3. Elysium - $13,600,00
4. Kick-Ass 2 - $13,568,000
5. Planes - $13,141,000
6. Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters - $8,375,000
7. Jobs - $6,700,000
8. 2 Guns - $5,572,000
9. The Smurfs 2 - $4,600,000
10. The Wolverine - $4,425,000