And they’re off! Even though Memorial Day is no longer the start of the summer blockbuster season, it is still one of the busiest weekends for new releases and audiences usually flock to theaters for some good old fashioned entertainment. This past Memorial Day weekend was no different and with the top five films grossing over $250 million, this was one of the most successful weekends ever.
Leading the pack was Fast & Furious 6, which blew past it’s predecessor’s (Fast 5) opening by nearly $30 million. The 6th instalment of the Fast & Furious franchise took in $120 million, which is a record for the franchise and for Universal. The weekend had the opposite effect on the Hangover series with The Hangover Part III taking in less than half of what the second movie earned in it’s first five days in theaters (Part III opened on Thursday).
Star Trek Into Darkness had a strong weekend with another $47 million added to it’s total. The second Trek movie from JJ Abrams is performing just slightly better than the first movie did in it’s first 12 days out, thanks in part to it’s good word of mouth reviews. The only family-friendly movie to open over the weekend, Epic, did well with $42.6 million and the #4 spot on the list. Time To Play gave Epic 5 out of 10 See–It–Again points. You can read our full review here. Iron Man 3 rounded out the Top 5 with a holiday take of $24.3.
Here is The Top 10 for the Memorial Day Weekend of May 24 – 27, 2013:
1. Fast & Furious 6 ($120,019,000)
2. The Hangover Part III ($51,215,000)
3. Star Trek Into Darkness ($47,000,000)
4. Epic ($42,600,000)
5. Iron Man 3 ($24,351,000)
6. The Great Gatsby ($17,020,000)
7. Mud ($2,427,000)
8. The Croods ($1,615,000)
9. 42 ($1,607,000)
10. Oblivion ($1,093,000)
New Movies in bold.
Figures from Box Office Mojo
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