In a summer that has been full of dystopian comedies and action films, Elysium rounds out the blockbuster summer by defeating a number of powerful competitors. The $30M debut is less than the $37M debut of Neill Blomkamp's District 9 four years ago, but that film was done a relatively small budget, whereas Elysium's clocks in at $115M+. It's a little surprising that Matt Damon's star power wasn't able to give it a bigger boost, and perhaps it's due to seeing so many similar-looking films over the span of just a couple of months.
2. We're the Millers- $26.55M/$38M
Continuing what has been a strong summer for R-rated comedies, the $38M debut of We're the Millers may be the biggest winner of the week. It's another notch on the comedy belt for Jennifer Aniston and Jason Sudeikis, both coming off another vulgar comedy in the $200M Horrible Bosses. This film won't come close to matching that one, but its A- Cinemascore suggests audiences loved it and want to see more, so it wouldn't be a shock to see it have a strong second weekend. New Line was smart to focus on the film's two biggest stars, with most of the emphasis on the sexy, stripping performance by Aniston. Fewer clothes, bigger box office. It's a formula that works.
3. Planes- $22.5M
Disney didn't break the bank on their Cars spinoff, Planes, perhaps because their initial plans were for it to be a straight-to-DVD release. So they must be ecstatic over the $22.5M opening, because they have nearly two months until the next major animated release hits theaters and the film should more than make its $50M by then. Plus it keeps the already-lucrative Cars franchise alive, which has been a boon for them in toys and DVD/Blu-Ray sales, so it's no wonder Disney already has the sequel Planes: Fire & Rescue lined up.
4. Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters- $14.6M/$23.45M
Fox 2000 took their time deciding whether to invest in a Percy Jackson sequel, but when the decision was made they plunged in headlong for $90M. But it looks like it was a bad call as Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters only cracked $23M over the course of five days, $15M less than the first film did in three days. With Logan Lerman as the title character and Thor Freudenthal taking as director, the plan was clear to try and build this into a Harry Potter-level hit, but the novels by Rick Riordan don't have the same appeal, perhaps due to their heavy reliance on Greek mythology, and we've seen that audiences aren't connecting to it. Unless it does gangbusters overseas, chances are this will be the last we see of Percy, which is good because nobody seemed interested in making this one.
5. 2 Guns- $11.1M/$48.5M
All of the competition turned out to be a wrecking crew for 2 Guns, the Denzel Washington/Mark Wahlberg action-comedy falling from the top spot and losing 59% of its audience. At this rate it will probably just break even, but won't measure up to the actors' usual output.
6. The Smurfs 2- $9.5M/$46.6M
It's not going to get a sniff of the $600M of the prior film, but it's still doing solid business overseas. The worldwide total stands at $156M, with foreign box office making up 70% of the amount. That's pretty smurfin' lopsided, I'd say.
7. The Wolverine- $8M/$112M
It may be a bit of disappointment domestically, but The Wolverine is on the way to becoming the biggest international hit of the entire X-men franchise, with $194M overseas.
8. The Conjuring- $6.7M/$120.7M
9. Despicable Me 2- $5.7M/$338.3M
10. Grown Ups 2- $3.7M/$123.8M
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