For the second weekend in a row, “Lee Daniels’ The Butler“ held off the competition for the top spot at the box office, dishing major blows to the new arrivals.
The Weinstein Company drama, which stars Forest Whitaker and Oprah Winfrey, earned $17 million this weekend, bringing The Butler‘s gross to $52.3 million after ten days. The film isn’t raking in quite as much as “The Help,” which had earned $57.2 million in its first ten days in 2011, but it did surpass the $47.6 million earned by Daniels’ 2009 critically-acclaimed drama “Precious,” and became the director’s highest grossing film.
But The Butler wasn’t the only holdover to keep its ground. “We’re the Millers” did even better in its third weekend. The Jason Sudeikis/Jennifer Aniston collaboration earned $13.5 million, putting it in second place and bringing the films total gross of $91.7. The Warner Bros. $37-million comedy is set to become Aniston’s sixth $100 million hit, according to Entertainment Weekly.
One of this week’s newcomers, “Mortal Instruments: City of Bones,” the demon-hunting horror flick starring Lily Collins, placed third. The film opened in 3,118 theaters and took in $9.3 million for the weekend and $14 million for five days (the film opened Wednesday).
Edgar Wright’s modestly budgeted action-comedy The World’s End fared much better with an $8.9 million haul from only 1,549 theaters. The $20 million movie, boosted by stellar reviews and a B+ CinemaScore, placed No. 4 and nabbed the highest location average of any film in the top 10 ($5,773) thanks to diehard fans.
World’s End, starring Simon Pegg and Nick Frost, follows a group of friends who reunite for an epic bar crawl only to discover that their hometown has been infested with supernatural beings.
Here’s the top 10 performers at this week’s box office, according to boxofficemojo.com:
1. Lee Daniels’ The Butler – $17,018,000
2. We’re the Millers – $13,500,000
3. The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones – $9,300,000
4. The World’s End – $8,942,000
5. Planes – $8,567,000
6. Elysium – $7,100,000
7. You’re Next – $7,050,000
8. Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters – $5,200,000
9. Blue Jasmine – $4,300,000
10. Kick-Ass 2 – $4,270,000
