By Chris Kavan - 05/31/11 at 12:04 AM CT
It looks like audiences weren't worried about taking the same trip twice. Despite many reviews complaining about the similarities between The Hangover and its sequel, it still came out on top of the long weekend box office in a big way.
Factoring in a 3rd-place biggest midnight releases, The Hangover II ended up with $137.3 million - and the best opening ever for a live-action comedy film and also a record $105.8 million Memorial Weekend total. It's also the second best opening for an R-rated film, trailing only The Matrix Reloaded. With such a strong debut, the film stands a good chance of exceeding the first film's total ($277.3 million), despite some harsh reviews.
While The Hangover II may have beaten expectations, another sequel lost a little steam. Kung Fu Panda 2, maybe dealing with a bit of animation overload, did manage to take 2nd place, but its $68 million total was weaker than expected. The $48 million weekend trailed the $60.2 million the original took in. The 3D accounted for 45% of that gross - also a rather low number for an animated film.
Slipping 56% was third-place finisher Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides. Taking in another $50.4 million, the film now stands at $164 million. It is well below the total for both Dead Man's Chest and At World's End for the same time frame and attendance has also dipped to the lowest point for any Pirates film during the same time period.
Holding strong in 4th was another R-rated comedy - Bridesmaids. Despite having some serious competition, the film once again saw the lowest week-to-week decline, dropping only 21% and raking in another $21 million. The $89.6 million total puts it in the same category as The 40-Year-Old Virgin and Knocked Up in comparative terms.
Fifth and Sixth place went to Thor and Fast Five. Thor took in another $12 million and now stands at $162.4 million while Fast Five took in an additional $8.2 million and still leads 2011 in total gross with $197.6 million and should break the $200 million mark this week.
Continuing to show strong numbers in limited releases, Woody Allan's Midnight in Paris expanded to just 58 theaters, but still cracked the top 10 with a $3.5 million 7th-place showing.
Also strong in limited release was Terrence Malick’s Tree of Life, which brought in $489,000 at just four locations with an amazing $93, 250 per theater average.
Next week's blockbuster offering is X-Men First Class, the prequel to the super hero saga while those who want less bombast and more drama can choose between Beginners and the coming-of-age story Submarine.
