Tops at the Box Office: 'The Master' makes history while 'Resident Evil' wins the weekend

 

1. Resident Evil: Retribution- $21.1M
As has been the case for practically all of the Resident Evil movies, there are two sides to the final box office tally for the fifth film in the franchise. While the $21M opening is less than the last few installments by a few million, the fact remains these movies absolutely kill it overseas. 2010's Resident Evil: Afterlife, which much like this one benefits from being in 3D, grossed a franchise-high close to $300M, with about $240M of that on the international market. Since these movies don't cost that much to produce, they are practically licenses to print money for director Paul W.S. Anderson and his wife, Milla Jojovich. The next film is intended to be the last, but if they keep making money does anyone think that'll happen? Me neither.

2. Finding Nemo 3D- $17.5M
Perhaps Disney should stick to re-releasing their older, classic favorites rather than digging up the relatively recent Pixar flicks? Finding Nemo performed well but below previous re-releases Beauty and the Beast and The Lion King. It'll be interesting to see how Monsters, Inc. does when it comes back later this year, because it's probably not remembered quite as fondly as Finding Nemo, but has the benefit of an upcoming prequel in Monsters University.
3. The Possession- $5.8M/$41.16M
4. Lawless- $4.2M/$30.1M
5. ParaNorman- $3.04M/$49.3M
6. The Expendables 2- $3M/$80.3M
7. The Words- $2.9M/$9.1M
8. The Bourne Legacy- $2.87M/$107.8M
9. The Odd Life of Timothy Green- $2.5M/$46.3M
10. The Campaign- $2.4M/$82.8M

We already knew that P.T. Anderson's The Master was one of the more eagerly awaited films of the year, and its first weekend proved just how much. Opening at a mere five theaters, the film earned an incredible $730k. That equates to $146k per site average, breaking the all-time record for a limited release. Wowsers. Can't wait to see what it does when it expands next week.

The Richard Gere financial thriller, Arbitrage, also did gangbusters in its first week, earning $2M at only 197 theaters. The film also released On Demand the same day, so if you're so inclined you can check it out here.