Box office report for May 16, 2011: “Thor” keeps throne at No. 1
“Thor” continues to rule the box office, holding onto the No. 1 spot over the weekend, according to the Associated Press.
Paramount’s 3-D superhero film starring Chris Hemsworth as Marvel’s hammer-toting god of thunder earned $34.5 million in its second weekend, according to the AP.
That brings the total haul of “Thor” to $119.2 million, which wasn’t quite as superheroic as fellow Marvel stalwart “Iron Man 2,” which earned $211.2 million by its second weekend the same time last year.
“‘Thor’ had a really great playing field to work on for its second weekend in theaters,” Paul Dergarabedian, box office analyst for Hollywood.com, told the AP. “For a big-budget Marvel Comics film that opened very solidly to drop only 48 percent indicates some very strong word of mouth. I think Kenneth Branagh being the director really brought a lot to the table.”
Universal’s “Bridesmaids,” the raunchy comedy starring “Saturday Night Live” standout Kristen Wiig as a down-on-her-luck maid of honor, debuted above expectations in second place with $24.4 million, according to the AP. Nikki Rocco, head of distribution for Universal, attributed the movie’s good reviews and word of mouth to wide audience appeal: 67 percent of the audience was female; 33 percent male.
Universal’s car-racing and heist-pulling sequel “Fast Five” with Paul Walker, Vin Diesel and Dwayne Johnson shifted into the third position with $19.5 million in its third weekend in theaters. According to IMDB, the fifth film in the franchise has now made $170 million domestically.
Sony’s 3-D vampire-hunting graphic novel adaptation “Priest” opened in fourth place with $14.5 million. Fox’s animated bird tale “Rio” flew past the $125 million mark, according to IMDB, landing at fifth place with $8 million in its fifth weekend in theaters.
The next adversary for “Thor” arrives this week with the opening of “Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides,” the fourth film in the blockbuster Disney franchise starring Johnny Depp as outrageous pirate Capt. Jack Sparrow. On Memorial Day weekend, the sequels “The Hangover Part II” from Warner Bros. and “Kung Fu Panda 2″ from Paramount arrive in theaters.
“The cavalry is about to arrive,” Dergarabedian told the AP. “We’re poised for a strong Memorial Day weekend. We’re down year-to-date about 13 percent on revenue. A month ago, we were down 20 percent. We’re making up ground, and this weekend was down only 3 percent, which is impressive considering the strength of ‘Iron Man 2′ in its second weekend a year ago.”
Here are the top 10 films, from the AP:
1. “Thor,” $34.5 million.
2. “Bridesmaids,” $24.4 million.
3. “Fast Five,” $19.5 million.
4. “Priest,” $14.5 million.
5. “Rio,” $8 million.
6. “Jumping the Broom,” $7.3 million.
7. “Something Borrowed,” $7 million.
8. “Water for Elephants,” $4.1 million.
9. “Tyler Perry’s Madea’s Big Happy Family,” $2.2 million.
10. “Soul Surfer,” $1.8 million.
-BAM
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Comments
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