August 26, 2013 by Vinnie Leduc
After kicking ass during its opening a week ago, Lee Daniels’ The Butler extended its stay atop the domestic box office as it served up a repeat win. The Oscar buzzy historical drama managed to defend its title against drug-smuggling comedy We’re the Millers, which continued to hold very well and claimed the runner-up spot for the third consecutive weekend.
Of the three new wide releases, The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones grossed the most to barely slide into third place, but considering its $60 million budget, TMI:COB (LOL) looks like the latest young adult literary series adaptation launch to flop this year after Beautiful Creatures and The Host. Close behind TMI:COB was sci-fi flick The World’s End, the third installment of Edgar Wright’s highly acclaimed comedy trilogy. The World’s End debuted to higher numbers than both Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz, and all three movies boast a 91% RT approval rating. The World’s End opened just ahead of holdover Planes by less than a quarter million. Disney’s computer-animated spin-off to Pixar’s Cars kept You’re Next out of the top five; the indie horror movie debuted in sixth place.
The upcoming weekend ushers in a couple of new wide releases, action thriller Getaway and 3D concert film One Direction: This Is Us. Check back next week to see if either movie could prevent The Butler from being the first movie of 2013 to three-peat at the domestic box office.
Here are the numbers for the top five over the weekend via BOM:
- Lee Daniels’ The Butler — Weekend Gross: $16.5 million — Total Gross: $51.8 million (#1 last week)
- We’re the Millers — Weekend Gross: $13.0 million — Total Gross: $91.3 million (#2 last week)
- The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones — Weekend Gross: $9.3 million — Total Gross: $14.1 million (new)
- The World’s End — Weekend Gross: $8.8 million — Total Gross: $8.8 million (new)
- Planes — Weekend Gross: $8.6 million — Total Gross: $59.6 million (#4 last week)
You can discuss this with more MediaStinger fans on Facebook, you can follow us on Twitter at @MediaStinger, and you can follow writer Vinnie Leduc on Twitter at @MovieVVhore.
