“Elysium,” Sony’s sci-fi political allegory about the haves and the have-nots, was this weekend’s top movie.
Directed by Neill Blomkamp and starring Matt Damon, the film debuted in first place with an estimated $30.5 million. This was well below the $37.4 million debut in August 2009 of Blomkamp’s previous sci-fi political allegory, “District 9,” which was released when he was a little-known South African director.
However, Elysium still managed to come out on top of a very crowded field, which included three other big releases: the R-rated Warner Bros. comedy “We’re the Millers,” starring Jason Sudeikis and Jennifer Aniston ($26.6 million over the weekend, a strong $38 million since opening Tuesday night); Disney’s “Cars” spinoff, “Planes” ($22.5 million); and Fox’s fantasy sequel, “Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters” ($14.6 million over the weekend, $23.5 million since Wednesday).
Universal’s action comedy “2 Guns,” the holdover of the week, took fifth, with about $11.1 million in sales, for a two-week total of $48.5 million.
Here’s the top 10 performers at the box office this weekend, according to Hollywood.com:
1. “Elysium,” $30.5 million, $10.9 million international.
2. “We’re the Millers,” $26.6 million.
3. “Planes,” $22.5 million.
4. “Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters,” $14.6 million, $9.8 million international.
5. “2 Guns,” $11.1 million.
6. “Smurfs 2,” $9.5 million, $34.6 million international.
7. “The Wolverine,” $8 million, $18 million international.
8. “The Conjuring,” $6.7 million, $9.9 million international.
9. “Despicable Me 2,” $5.7 million, $12.2 million international.
10. “Grown Ups 2,” $3.7 million, $6.6 million international.
