After a
lackluster start to the year, the movie industry enjoyed its most robust
Memorial Day weekend ever at the box office, with "Fast & Furious
6" speeding to the top spot.
The record-breaking four-day weekend generated estimated receipts of $316 million.
"Over
$300 million for Memorial Day weekend has never happened before," said
box-office analyst Paul Dergarabedian of Hollywood.com. "This proves
that when you have a great selection of films, audiences will line up at
movie theaters in record numbers."
The sixth installment
of the "Fast & Furious" franchise debuted at No. 1 with $120
million, making it the biggest opening weekend for a Universal Pictures
release, according to Hollywood.com.
Starring Vin Diesel and Paul Walker, the muscle-car action romp took in an additional $158 million internationally.
Fans turned out because filmmakers upped the ante, said Nikki Rocco, Universal's head of distribution.
"The
creative team, the filmmakers and the studio put their heart and soul
into making it bigger and better," she said. "When you have this many
films in the franchise ... you have to take it in a new direction."
The street racers battle both a tank and a plane in the film.
"It
is the very definition of the summer popcorn movie," Dergarabedian
said. "You suspend disbelief, buckle up and go along for that ride."
"The
Hangover Part III," starring Zach Galifianakis, Bradley Cooper and Ed
Helms, opened in second place. The final chapter in the Warner Bros.
raunchy comedy trilogy collected $51.2 million.
Paramount
Pictures' "Star Trek: Into Darkness," which opened last week, added $47
million to its domestic ticket sales, landing at No. 3.
Fox'
animated "Epic," the only non-sequel among the weekend's five
top-grossing films, opened in the fourth spot with $42.6 million.
"We
did see a hole in the release schedule that said this is the perfect
time to launch an animated film," said Fox president of domestic
distribution Chris Aronson. "It can be challenging to launch an
original-content movie in such a competitive weekend, but this is a very
special movie: A family movie as well as an all-audience movie."
Now in its
fourth week of release, "Iron Man 3" — which had the biggest opening so
far this year — hung onto fifth place with $24.4 million.
The
record-breaking weekend take bodes well for the summer movie season,
Dergarabedian said: "This Memorial weekend is exactly what the industry
needed and this momentum will carry forward."
Estimated
ticket sales for Friday through Monday at U.S. and Canadian theaters,
according to Hollywood.com. Where available, latest international
numbers are also included. Final domestic figures will be released
Tuesday.
1. "Fast & Furious 6," $120 million ($158 million international).
2. "The Hangover Part III," $51.2 million ($19.2 million international).
3. "Star Trek: Into Darkness," $47 million ($13.1 million international).
4. "Epic," $42.6 million ($23.1 million international).
5. "Iron Man 3," $24.4 million ($17.4 million international).
6. "The Great Gatsby," $17 million ($24.4 million international).
7. "Mud," $2.5 million ($400,000 international).
8. "The Croods," $1.6 million ($5.8 million international).
9. "42," $1.6 million.
10. "Oblivion," $1.1 million ($2.3 million international).
Estimated
weekend ticket sales at international theaters (excluding the U.S. and
Canada) through Sunday for films distributed overseas by Hollywood
studios, according to Rentrak:
1. "Fast & Furious 6," $158 million.
2. "The Great Gatsby," $24.4 million.
3. "Epic," $23.1 million.
4. "The Hangover Part III," $19.2 million.
5. "Iron Man 3," $17.4 million.
6. "Star Trek: Into Darkness," $13.1 million.
7. "The Croods," $5.8 million.
8. "Oblivion," $2.3 million.
9. "Evil Dead," $2.2 million.
10. "Only God Forgives," $1.5 million.