Elysium, the sci-fi epic starring Matt Damon, won a busier-than-usual box office weekend, with four new wide releases competing with holdovers. Meanwhile, Woody Allen’s blue Jasmine continued its strong rollout, making it at the way to No. 11 on the box office chart.
Elysium is the new film from District 9’s Neill Blomkamp and also stars Jodie Foster. According to Entertainment Weekly, the film kicked off its run with $30.5 million, which is actually less than District 9’s $37.4 million start in 2009. It also couldn’t beat over recent sci-fi releases like Oblivion and Pacific Rim, but at least it did better than After Earth’s dismal $25 million start.
One of the best pieces of information for Sony is that the film grossed $4.9 million from IMAX screenings, making up 16 percent of its total revenue.
Jennifer Aniston and Jason Sudeikis star in We’re The Millers, which got off to a strong $26.6 million start, notes Box Office Mojo. The film definitely benefited from a lack of comic relief at the box office and scored an A- CinemaScore grade from audiences. Look out for this film to make $100 million at least.
Disney’s Planes grossed $22.5 million, which is pretty good for a movie originally intended to go straight to video. While the film continued the trend of underperforming family films, it only cost Disney $50 million to make.
Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters grossed $14.6 million over the weekend. It opened on Wednesday, so Fox’s $90 million film is up to $23.5 million.
2 Ginds fell a whopping 59 percent to just $11.1 million in its second weekend. Considering the new competition, the $61 million Universal film didn’t stand a chance at having a strong second weekend.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Blue Jasmine, the newest film from Allen, grossed $2.5 million from just 119 locations. The film is earning great reviews and is poised to be another Midnight In Paris-style success.
image: Sony