“Lee Daniel’s The Butler” remained the no. 1 movie for the second straight weekend as American moviegoers contented to, um, get served.
The Weinstein Company release earned $17 million for a superb $52. million in just 10 days. With continuing good word of mouth, “The Butler” could easily duplicate that gross over the upcoming four-day Labor Day weekend. Whether it can hold on to enough theaters to cross the $100 million mark? Well, it’s gonna be close.
Another moviegoer favorite, “We’re The Millers,” remained in second place with another $13.5 million for $91 million to date. Warner Bros. has lucked out from a dearth of broad comedies in the marketplace and a film that appeals more to audiences than critics.
Right behind “We’re The Millers” was Screen Gems’ “The Mortal Instruments.” Yet another teen fantasy wannabe franchise that couldn’t duplicate the “Twilight” model, “Instruments” found $9.3 million over the three-day frame for just $14 million since hitting theaters on Wednesday. The Sony Pictures division reportedly has little at stake in the film financially with international financier Constantin Film putting up most of the budget.
The final installment in the Three Flavours Cornetto trilogy, Edgar Wright’s “The World’s End,” took fourth. The Focus Features comedy earned $8.9 million in just 1,549 theaters. Budgeted at just $20 million, “End” has already earned over $15 million overseas in primarily just Australia and the United Kingdom.
Disney’s “Planes” rounded out the top five as the only real family film in the marketplace. The “Cars” spin-off earned $8.5 million for an estimated $59.5 million so far.
Sony Classics’ provided Woody Allen with his largest theatrical screen count ever as “Blue Jasmine” expanded to 1,237 engagements. The awards season player earned $4.2 million and has cooked up $14.7 million to date.
New movies this week include “Closed Circuit” on Wednesday and “Getaway” and “One Direction: This is Us” on Friday.
Look for complete box office results tomorrow on HitFix.