The action movie extravaganza known as “The Expendables 2” reigned supreme at the box office this weekend, pushing “The Bourne Legacy” out of first place in the second weekend of the Bourne franchise’s fourth installment—and the first without Matt Damon.
Meanwhile the eagerly awaited “Sparkle,” co-starring Whitney Houston in her final role and “American Idol” winner Jordin Sparks in the lead role, came in fifth at the box office, earning $12 million. With a modest budget of $14 million, “Sparkle” is already well on its way to profitability, which is a crucial goal for African-American-helmed films in wary Hollywood.
This version of “The Expendables” didn’t quite reach the numbers of the original, which made $34.8 million in 2010 in its opening weekend. “The Expendables 2” came in at $28.75 million. Sylvester Stallone didn’t direct this one, handing the reins over to Simon West. But the cast is like a who’s who of Hollywood action over the past three decades: Jason Statham, Jet Li, Dolph Lundgren, Chuck Norris, Randy Couture, Terry Crews, Liam Hemsworth, Jean-Claude Van Damme, Bruce Willis, and Arnold Schwarzenegger.
The Bourne franchise, trying to keep up its string of box office wins, had the anxiety of a new title character in Jeremy Renner. But apparently the Bourne fans are more than happy to follow Renner into another series of exciting plot twists and action turns. The movie came in first last weekend with $38.1 million, crossing the $50 million mark on Thursday after just seven days of release. This past weekend it grossed $17 million, for a North American total by Sunday night of over $69 million.
1. The Expendables 2 – $28.75 million (week 1) (LIONSGATE)
2. The Bourne Legacy – $17,019,855/total to date $69,580,935 (week 2) (UNIVERSAL)
3. ParaNorman – $14,008,498/Week 1 (FOCUS FEATURES)
4. The Campaign – $13,385,000/total to date $51,694,000 (week 2) (WARNER BROS.)
5. Sparkle – $12 million (week 1) (SONY)
6. The Dark Knight Rises – $11,140,000/$409,916,000 to date (crossed $400 million mark this weekend) week 5
7. The Odd Life of Timothy Green – $10,909,000/$15,187,000 to date (Opened Wednesday) week 1
