July 4, 2011 by Vinnie Leduc
The biggest box office weekend of the year unfolded as expected, as Transformers: Dark of the Moon raked in $97.4 million domestically from Friday to Sunday, topping the $90.2 million domestic debut of Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides earlier this year. Not only is the Transformers sequel’s three-day take the best opening weekend of 2011, but it’s also the biggest three-day total ever for the July 4th weekend. Since opening last Tuesday night, Dark of the Moon has amassed $162 million domestically (and projected to hit $180 million by the end of the extended holiday weekend tonight) and including worldwide revenues, $372 million total (and projected to cross the $400 million mark tonight). Despite trailing the previous sequel, Revenge of the Fallen, in both attendance numbers and domestic gross, Dark of the Moon has been heavily fueled by its impressive use of 3D (our review here) and its additional popularity overseas, where it claimed the biggest opening ever in several countries and third-biggest opening ever overall, behind Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince and Spider-Man 3. Fellow openers Larry Crowne and Monte Carlo were vastly overshadowed by Dark of the Moon.
Car 2, Green Lantern, and Super 8 all crossed the $100 million mark domestically, but each film is riding a different box office story. Pixar’s sequel, which has absorbed the worst reviews the studio has ever gotten, suffered Pixar’s biggest decline after opening last week. The unexceptional Green Lantern, trying to recoup its astronomical budget and marketing campaign, is quickly fading and has already fallen out of the top 5 after three weeks. It landed in seventh behind well-reviewed Super 8, which has been out longer and continues to capitalize on its favorable word-of-mouth. Potty-mouthed but hilarious Bad Teacher also held strong it its second weekend, and word-of-mouth queen Bridesmaids became the top-grossing Judd Apatow production (over Knocked Up).
Here were the top 5 in the domestic box office last weekend via BOM:
- Transformers: Dark of the Moon — Weekend Gross: $97.4 million — Total Gross: $162.1 million (new)
- Cars 2 — Weekend Gross: $25.1 million — Total Gross: $116 million (#1 last weekend)
- Bad Teacher — Weekend Gross: $14.1 million — Total Gross: $59.5 million (#2 last week)
- Larry Crowne — Weekend Gross: $13 million — Total Gross: $13 million (new)
- Monte Carlo — Weekend Gross: $7.6 million — Total Gross: $7.6 million (new)
