Weekend Box Office: Captain America Has Super Debut, Potter Tumbles

By Chris Kavan - 07/25/11 at 10:12 AM CT

It looks like people were still in a patriotic mood this weekend. Captain America: The First Avenger got off to a fast start and topped Thor as the top-grossing super hero so far this year.

With a $68.8 million opening, Captain America just edged Thor's $68.7 million. Still, it looks like fears that people are getting tired of this genre are unfounded, although tacking on a trailer for The Avengers probably helped things. Also following the trend for this year, the 3D sales only accounted for 40% (compared to Thor's 60%) of box office total.

As for how it stands, though it did business comparable to G.I. Joe and Watchmen, it was trailing compared to past super hero films X-Men and Fantastic Four. Time will tell if it will have as good as legs as Thor or if a second week sees a sizable retreat.

After a record debut, Harry Potter and Deathly Hallows, Pt. 2 also took a record drop (for a Potter film). While still taking in just a hair over $48 million in its second week, Harry Potter took a nearly 72% hit off its opening. However, this does take into account the massive midnight showing as well, and fan frenzy has always meant Harry Potter films are front-loaded. The $274.1 million 10-day total is only second to The Dark Knight in terms of money-makers, and it should have no problem passing Sorcerer's Stone's $317.6 million to become the biggest Potter film on record (and should also pass the $1 billion global mark as well).

Coming in a respectable third place, Friends with Benefits took in $18.5 million on its opening weekend. The Justin Timberlake / Mila Kunis vehicle coming in just behind the similarly-themed No Strings Attached $19.7 million. It will have to show some legs to match up with the other R-rated comedy success stories.

Speaking of which, Horrible Bosses continues to outpace Bad Teacher at the box office. With just a 34% drop the third week out, it took in a fifth-place $11.7 million and now stands at $82.4 million. If it keeps on pace, it should manage to break the $100 million total before its run is over.

Coming in 4th was Transformers: Dark of the Moon with $12 million. The 44% drop was nearly identical to Revenge of the Fallen during its fourth week. The film has now taken in $325.8 million falling between the grosses of the first two films in the series.

The only movie to gain attendance was Woody Allen's Midnight in Paris. Still holding on to the 10th-place spot, it actually was up 1.2% with a $1.9 million take. It has now reached nearly $45 million and continues to be bright spot this year.

Next week Cowboys & Aliens looks to be the next big sci-fi film while Crazy, Stupid, Love looks to capture the romance angle and The Smurfs tries to corral the family crowd.

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