Box Office: J.J. Abrams and Steven Spielberg give ‘Super 8’ a $37 million send off

J.J. Abrams’ “Super 8” entered the summer box office fray this weekend with what has to be regarded as encouraging results considering the secretive hype and massive marketing spend.  With mixed to positive reviews, “Super 8” found $37 million over the three-day frame equaling a $38 million gross so far after last minute Thursday sneaks are taken into account.  Most encouraging for Paramount Pictures was the $100 million plus budgeted thriller’s jump from of 14.8% from Friday to Saturday.  Reports indicate “Super 8” is playing to older audiences, no doubt looking for that Spielberg nostalgia, which also indicates it should have stronger than anticipated holds as the weeks progress even with just a B+ cinemascore.

Speaking of holds, “X-Men: First Class” dropped an O.K. 54.6% making another $25 million and hitting $98.8 million in just 10 days.  Matthew Vaughn’s mutant reboot looks like it will end up somewhere near $140-150 million domestically.

The third slot went to “The Hangover, Pt. II” with $18.5 million and a superb $216.5 million to date.  It’s doubtful the Todd Phillips comedy will hit the $277 million take of the first “Hangover,” but it’s going to be close.

“Kung Fu Panda 2” keeps kicking with $16.6 million in third.  The sequel to one of DreamWorks Animation most critically acclaimed hits has $126 million so far but s unlikely to come near the original’s $215 million take.  Internationally, however, it has an excellent chance of making up the difference.

“Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides” continued its U.S. voyage in fifth with another $10.8 million as it joined “Hangover” in crossing the $200 million mark.  The latest “Pirates” adventure has made $208.7 million domestically, but overperformed globally with $614 million plus outside the U.S.  “Pirates” has benefited from international audience’s love affair with 3D, something that appears to be on the wane back home.

Expanding to 944 theaters, Woody Allen’s “Midnight in Paris” grossed $6.1 million for a superb $14.2 million to date.  “Paris” is clearly the unexpected limited release breakout of the summer and should easily become Allen’s biggest grosser of his career.

Final box office results are released on Monday.

Next weekend’s new releases include “Green Lantern” and “Mr. Popper’s Penguins.”
 

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