(Hanks visits the place where they burned his old forehead)

As expected, Angels & Demons won the box office over the weekend, though its $48 million take was slightly below studio expectations, and well below the $77.1 million debut of The Da Vinci Code.  All in all it did okay, was mediocre not great, and will probably be forgotten by next weekend.  It’s basically the Olive Garden of movie franchises. Elsewhere, Star Trek was only down 46% off its opening weekend – a small drop, especially when you consider Wolverine was down 68% in its second weekend.  Trek‘s total take now stands at $147.6 million to Wolverine‘s $151.1 (and closing fast, I imagine).

The weekend boasted only two other high profile pics, both in limited release. Jennifer Aniston’s “Management” got a pink slip from moviegoers, grossing just $378,420 from 212 screens for a measly per-screen average of $1,785. Meanwhile, the caper comedy “The Brothers Bloom” was a bright spot on the specialty side, ringing up $82,000 from four theaters for a $20,500 per-theater haul. [CNN]

Now all that’s left to figure out is who the hell keeps seeing Ghosts of Girlfriends Past.

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As predicted, Star Trek debuted in the number one spot this weekend, grossing $72.5 (just $7.5 mil off my prediction).  It was enough for the second-highest debut of 2009, behind Wolverine‘s $85.1 million take last weekend.  Wolverine, meanwhile, landed in number two with $27 million, a 68% decline from its first weekend.   Matthew McConaughey’s Ghost of Girlfriends Past was number three with $10.5 million, and if you saw that movie, let’s never hang out.

The good news is that this week, the weekend number one actually deserved its success.  I saw Star Trek over the weekend, and it’s probably the best summer movie I’ve seen since Jurassic Park.  Actually, it’s probably better than Jurassic Park.  It’s tracking 94% on RottenTomatoes, and I imagine it will eventually overtake Wolverine on the strength of people seeing it two and three times.  Though admittedly, stupid people are hard to predict.  Or as I like to call it, the Paul Blart effect. Unrelated but also important, I think Wolverine and Spock would make a great gay couple.  Wolverine could be freaking out: “GAAAAARRGGGHHH! THE THROW PILLOWS DON’T MATCH THE DUVET!!” and then Spock would be all, “Come on, sweetie, let’s be logical about this..”   They’re opposites, but Wolverine can’t get enough of the Vulcan death grip.

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^{Jackman and Schrieber in their climactic slap fight}

Estimates ran anywhere from $70 – $100 mil for X-Men Origins: Wolverine, which ended up grossing a not-too-shabby $87 million, despite largely negative reviews (haven’t had the chance to see it yet, myself). Elsewhere, Matthew McConaughey’s Ghost of Girlfriends Past opened with a disappointing-even-for-crap take of $15.3 million.

It’s not a shabby opening but it is far less than McConaughey’s previous romantic outings including last year’s “Fool’s Gold” ($21.6 million) or 2006′s “Failure to Launch” ($24.2 million). (Perhaps women were too busy checking out all those hunky mutants this weekend?) The two new openers did help the industry maintain its year-over-year increase of 16 percent. [EW]

You know women, always thinkin with their baby cave. Oh and hey, all it took was three transparently awful, excruciating anal abortions before the money truck finally started to decelerate?  All is right with the world, friends, all is right with the world. (full top ten below)

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Ghosts of Girlfriends Past is a romantic comedy starring Matthew McConnaughey that thankfully involves neither Kate Hudson nor a search for treasure. The great thing about it is that it teaches girls not to fall for that douchey pussy who’s always being nice to you.  True love is what happens when that hot asshole who treats you like shit and f’s all your friends finally discovers the meaning of life.  Think about it, it could be you he settles for!  How romantic!