1. The Hunger Games- $21.5M/$337M
Incredible in that after nearly a month of release, The Hunger Games is still only dropping about 35% a week. At that rate, don't be surprised if it hangs on for another week, as the offerings coming up aren't any more impressive than the three new releases that challenged Gary Ross's film this weekend. While it's unlikely that the film will beat out The Dark Knight Rises in the long run, it's more likely that Christopher Nolan's Bat-flick will be heavily front loaded, and may not dominate for this length of time, especially considering its release during the busier summer months.
2. The Three Stooges- $17.1M
Not a total faceplant, and certainly surprising to see it beat out Joss Whedon's The Cabin in the Woods, The Three Stooges benefited from generally weak competition and a huge nationwide release. Opening at nearly 3500 theaters, second only to The Hunger Games, people no doubt lined up to see just how bad the movie would be, and since it earned a 'B-' CinemaScore I'm assuming they were pleasantly surprised.
3. The Cabin in the Woods- $14.85M
For all the praise heaped on it by critics, fans were generally unimpressed by Joss Whedon's long awaited horror, which has sat on the shelf for two years thanks to MGM's bankruptcy proceedings. It's hard to gauge whether this is a good start or not, as the film only features one noteworthy star in Chris Hemsworth, and marketing has been vague and a little spotty in an effort to keep its many secrets under wraps. Most surprising of all is that it was less well received than The Three Stooges, earning a mediocre 'C' CinemaScore.
4. Titanic 3D- $11.6M/$44.4M
5. American Reunion- $10.7M/$39.9M
6. Mirror Mirror- $7M/$49.4M
7. Wrath of the Titans- $6.9M/$71.25M
Thank goodness for the foreign market, which is singly keeping Wrath afloat with a hefty $150M. If there's going to be a third leg of the Sam Worthington led trilogy, blame our overseas neighbors.
8. 21 Jump Street- $6.8M/$120.5M
9. Lockout- $6.25M
Well, this is about what you could expect from a poorly marketed sci-fi film which only features Guy Pearce as its one recognizable face. FilmDistrict tried to hype up the relation to Luc Besson's Liam Neeson hit, Taken, but audiences weren't buying it.
10. The Lorax- $3M/$204.5M
The biggest hit on the world stage was Battleship, which opened in more than two dozen international regions a month before ever hitting our shores. The Peter Berg directed pseudo-adaptation of the board game earned $58M this weekend, and should bode well for its debut here on May 18th.
