7/03/2011

Tops at the Box Office: Transformers blows up; Larry Crowne flops


1. Transformers: Dark of the Moon- $97.4M/$162M
The fourth of July weekend wasn't ready for the arrival of Michael Bay's Transformers: Dark of the Moon. Opening as early as Tuesday in some locations, the 3D powerhouse has earned a whopping $162M, with expectations of over $180M through the holiday. That's less than Transformers: Revenge of the the Fallen did a couple of years ago. Globally, it opened to a whopping $372M, the 3rd biggest opening ever. 3D screenings accounted for a crushing 71% of the total haul, exactly what Bay and Paramount had in mind when they demanded all theaters use their specially converted presentation.

2. Cars 2- $25.1M/$116M
Ouch. A 62% tumble pretty ensures that Pixar's lowest rated film yet likely won't match the $244M take of 2006's Cars.
3. Bad Teacher- $14.1M/$59.5M
4. Larry Crowne- $13M
Nobody expected this low key dramedy to match the power of Transformers, but with the star wattage of Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts surely this is a pretty low number? Universal saw this coming, projecting exactly this debut, and to be fair it's better than the duo's last pairing. Charlie Wilson's War opened at a hair under $10M a few years ago. With that said, it's been awhile since Hanks has had a legit starring hit. Roberts can at least tout Eat Pray Love's $200M.
5. Monte Carlo- $7.6M
I guess people would rather see Leighton Meester go nuts or sing a country tune than travel the world. Monte Carlo, which was produced for a measly $20M, opened at roughly half the debut of The Roommate, but was comparable to her supporting turn in Country Strong. The same goes for Selena Gomez, the tween queen who last tested her box office might with Ramona and Beezus, which opened to equivalent numbers. That means they have a small but pretty devoted audience that eats up these sugary flicks.
6. Super 8- $7.5M/$108M
7. Green Lantern- $6.27M/$102M
8. Mr. Popper's Penguins- $5.1M/$50.1M
9. Bridesmaids- $3.52M/$153M
Crazy how it's outlasted The Hangover part II by so much. 
10. Midnight in Paris- $3.44M/$33.6M