In a move that probably surprised some people – or at least my easily surprised ass – Denzel Washington and Mark Wahlberg knocked Hugh Jackman in The Wolverine out of the No. 1 spot at the box office with their own comic book adaptation, 2 Guns. As the weekend dust and torn ticket stubs settle, 2 Guns will have earned approximately $27. 3 million for its opening weekend, which is nearly half of its surprisingly small budget of $61 million. Again, I told you I’m easily surprised.
What’s even more shocking, though, is that The Smurfs 2 was produced on a budget of $105 million, and while I don’t know anything about how much it costs to CGI some little blue dudes in Paris, that still sounds like a ton of cash. And Sony might be Smurfing themselves over this one, because the sequel debuted at No. 3 this weekend with just $18.2 million.
Meanwhile, The Wolverine held strong at No. 2 with another $21.7 million in its pockets, as it has grossed $95 million in its first two weeks. It’s like we’ve almost forgotten all about that will.i.am nonsense.
(Via Box Office Mojo)
BLOCKBUSTER BUSTER BUST WATCH: Pacific Rim grabbed another $4.5 million in the States for 10th place and to push its earnings to $92 million, but that overall budget of $190 million is being covered by a huge opening weekend in China. The animated Turbo was in sixth place this weekend with another $6.4 million to raise its total gross to $69 million on a $135 million budget. Again, animated film budgets like that blow me away.
But Disney’s The Lone Ranger continues to be the bomb of the year, as it has only grossed $86 million through seven weeks on that remarkable $215 million budget. That’s just astonishing.
POSSIBLE RECORD SEEKER: Kevin Hart’s Let Me Explain has been in theaters for five weeks and has earned $32 million to date, with $256,000 coming in this weekend. The stand-up concert film has probably lost most of its steam, but it’s still the No. 4 stand-up concert of all-time at the box office, behind Richard Pryor: Live on the Sunset Strip ($36 million), The Original Kings of Comedy ($38 million) and Eddie Murphy Raw ($50 million). Could Hart’s Let Me Explain pick up some steam in the next week or so and give Raw a run for its money?
No. I just wanted to seem a little dramatic.