The summer movie season has its first big surprise, “Bridesmaids.”
The Judd Apatow produced comedy completely overperformed this weekend with $24.4 million to come in no. 2 right behind last week’s repeating champ, “Thor.” Fueled by great reviews and word of mouth, “Bridesmaids” had an atypical 35.9% jump from Friday to Saturday to reach the $24 million mark. This was somewhat unexpected as pre-release polling had the Kristin Wiig and Maya Rudolph ensemble reaching only $18 million or so. Don’t be surprised if Monday’s final numbers actually find “Bridesmaids” with a bit bigger take as Universal Pictures’ estimate for Sunday is quite conservative.
Two other studios that should be happy with this weekend’s results is Marvel Studios and Paramount Pictures. As expected, “Thor” remained the weekend champ, but it also had a very solid hold, dropping only 47.5% from its debut with another $34.5 million. That brings the God of Thunder’s domestic take to $119.2 million so far. Unfortunately, it will face steep competition next weekend with the debut of “Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides.”
Coming in third was another Universal Pictures hit, “Fast Five” with $19.5 million. The fifth installment of the “Fast and Furious” franchise has found $168.7 million so far and $200 million is right around the corner.
Sony Pictures is already trying to put a less dramatic spin on the results, but their new thriller “Priest” is nothing put a bomb. The 3D horror flick grossed just $14.5 million even with inflated ticket prices and will be lucky to crack $40 million domestic when all is said and done. “Priest” cost a reported $60 million.
“Rio” rounded out the top five with another $8 million to bring its take to $124.9 million with little family film competition in the marketplace.
Final weekend actuals are revealed on Monday.