Pixar’s magical run in the month of June continued this weekend as yet another of the Disney division’s releases scored big. Almost 12 years after the debut of “Monsters Inc,” the prequel “Monsters University” scared up a massive $82 million according to studio estimates. That’s the second best Pixar opening ever after “Toy Story 3’s” $110.3 million just three years ago. “MU” has a great shot at winning next weekend and has the family market cornered until “Despicable Me 2” arrives on July 3.
Recovering from initial bad buzz in second place was the aforementioned “World War Z.” The Marc Forster directed zombie flick grossed an unexpectedly potent $66 million. That makes “WWZ” the biggest opening of star Brad Pitt’s career as it easily surpassed the $50 million “Mr. and Mrs. Smith” found in 2005. It’s also a solid start for a film that needs to find at least $600 million globally to cover its almost $200 million pricetag.
“Man of Steel” dropped to third with another $41 million and $210 million in just 10 days. That picture’s 64% drop from its opening weekend has to make Warner Bros. a tad concerned as “Mos” was expected to fare much better against “MU” and “WWZ.”
As the only true comedy in the marketplace, “This Is The End” continued to find laughs in fourth with another $13. million and $57.7 million in its first 12 days. “End,” which only cost $32 million, should earn a nice profit for Sony Pictures.
Dropping to fifth was Summit Entertainment’s “Now You See Me” with another $7.8 million. The sleeper hit has grossed a magical $94.4 million so far and should cross the $100 million mark in the next week.
Friday’s new releases include Roland Emmerich’s “White House Down” and the Sandra Bullock/Melissa McCarthy comedy “The Heat.”
Weekend actuals are released on Monday.