The Hangover II rode its monkey to the highest-grossing opening weekend ever for a live-action comedy ($86 million from Friday to Sunday), earning $137.5 million in five days, and contributing to a best-ever Memorial Day weekend for the film industry (list of highest-grossing Memorial Day openings after the jump). With an $80 million budget and probably double that including marketing, Hangover 2 is well on its way to earning “a buttload” (as the analysts say). Hey, anyone who watches Community could tell you that Annie’s Boobs is a real crowd-pleaser.
Meanwhile, Kung Fu Panda 2, with a $150 million budget, was a moderate disappointment, grossing $47.8 million from Friday to Sunday and $68m total. Good numbers, but less than the first one. Luckily, Jack Black has to be used to disappointments by now, as are my parents.
| Weekend*** | Per Theater | ||||
| 1 | The Hangover 2 |
$105,765,000 | $29,257 | $137,375,367 | |
| 2 | Kung Fu Panda 2 |
$62,200,00 | $15,847 | $68,000,000 | |
| 3 | Pirates 4 | $50,372,000 (-44%) | $12,097 | $163,967,287 | |
| 4 | Bridesmaids |
$20,987,000 (+1%) | $7,095 | $89,593,555 | |
| 5 | Thor | $12,030,000 (-22%) | $3,650 | $162,374,525 | |
| 6 | Fast Five | $8,166,000 (-23%) | $2,981 | $197,575,100 | |
| 7 | Midnight In Paris | $2,614,671 (+337%) | $45,081 | $3,519,655 | |
| 8 | Rio |
$2,400,000 (-49%) | $1,435 | $135,441,274 | |
| 9 | Jumping The Broom |
$2,350,000 (-37%) | $2,503 | $34,631,066 | |
| 10 | Something Borrowed | $2,320,000 (-34%) | $1,095 | $27,662,281 |
***Four-day holiday totals
And here’s the all-time Memorial Day weekend chart:
On a serious note, the strength of the Hangover was taking elements blatantly geared towards broad audiences (ie, stupid people) — monkey sidekicks! disapproving Asians! the same movie over again! — while still throwing the more culturally savvy an occasional bone (the Vietcong execution parody).
Other winners included Woody Allen, whose Midnight in Paris added 58 theaters and maintained its highest-among-the-top-10 per-screen average of $33,276, while the latest Pirates of the Carribbean sagged to its lowest attendance of the franchise, which has to be considered a win for society (Bruckheimer is the antichrist). Meanwhile, Bridesmaids fell only 22% from its opening weekend and has made $89 million so far, proving that female-driven comedies can still succeed at the box office. They’re perhaps even more attractive than their male counterparts, considering you only have to pay them two thirds as much. (whackety-schmackety sexism).
[via CHUD, BoxOfficeMojo]