Hollywood is heading for a record-breaking Memorial Day Weekend, led by Universal’s “Fast & Furious 6,” which took in a massive $38.2 million on Friday (May 24).
The “Fast & Furious 6” totals, which include late Thursday/Friday midnight shows) made a joke out of what was expected to be a relatively competitive weekend.
Instead, per figures courtesy of BoxOfficeMojo, “Fast & Furious 6” basically equally the totals for the next four films combined. While “Fast & Furious 6” won’t catch “Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End,” which holds the four-day Memorial Day Weekend record with $139.8 million, it should tuck in behind “Indian Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull” and “X-Men: The Last Stand” in fourth.
Warner Brothers’ “The Hangover Part III” appears headed for relative disappointment, taking in $14.53 million dollars on Friday, bringing its total to $26.32 million after a mid-week opening. The comedy sequel won’t get anywhere near the $103 million four-day tally for “Park II,” which opened over the Memorial Day Weekend in 2011.
“Star Trek Into Darkness” followed with $10.2 million on Friday, with a total domestic gross of $119 million to date. Fox’s “Epic” was third with $9.35 million, but should pull closer to “Star Trek” as the weekend progresses. Coming in fifth was “Iron Man 3,” which added a $5.11 million Friday gross to a domestic tally that is already over $353 million.
“The Great Gatsby,” which passed $100 million domestic earlier in the week, finished sixth with $3.96 million on Friday.
In limited release, meanwhile, “Before Midnight” took in $71,000 in only five theaters on Friday, giving it a better per-screen average than even “Fast & Furious 6,” not that such comparisons are worthwhile. The Richard Linklater film is still off to a terrific start.
Stay tuned for more box office results as the weekend progresses…