“Thor: The Dark World” may have ruled the box office for a second week in a row, but the Marvel tentpole may have met its match, and no one saw it coming. “The Best Man Holiday” opened to a shocking $30.5 million weekend. The film only cost an estimated $17 million to produce.
Starring Terrence Howard, Morris Chestnut, Taye Diggs, Regina Hall, Sanaa Lathan and Nia Long, “Best Man Holiday” scooped up $10.7 million on Friday (more than Thor’s $10.4 million), and then improved 15 percent on Saturday to $12 million. The rare boost on a film’s opening weekend signifies great word-of-mouth activity, according to Entertainment Weekly.
Universal estimates the audience was 75 percent female and 87 percent African-American. Moviegoers assigned the film a rare “A+” CinemaScore.
The original 1999 comedy “The Best Man,” which was also written and directed by Malcolm D. Lee, grossed $9 million on its opening weekend and topped out at $34 million total worldwide.
“Thor: The Dark World” ended the weekend still on top with $38.5 million, giving the comic book adaptation a $147 million domestic total so far. The sequel is still on track to easily surpass the original Thor film’s $181 million domestic total in 2011, and it should finish above $200 million.
The EW reported that the film has already out-earned its predecessor. “Thor: The Dark World” has grossed $332.8 million internationally and $479.8 million worldwide, far more than the $268 million and $449 million respective finishes for Thor. At this point, The Dark World seems headed for a finish above $700 million worldwide,” read the report.
Meanwhile, in third place was CBS Films’ “Last Vegas,” which showed great staying power, scoring another $8.85 million in its third week, and bringing the domestic total to $47 million.
Relativity’s animated film “Free Birds” captured another $8.3 million and raised its total haul to $35.6 million.
“Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa” rounds off the top 5, picking up another $7.7 million for an impressive $84.8 million in total North American sales.
Lionsgate’s highly-anticipated sequel “The Hunger Games: Catching Fire” is expected to dominate next weekend’s box office, but here are the top 10 for this weekend, via Box Office Mojo:
1. Thor: The Dark World: $38.5 million
2. The Best Man Holiday: $30.6 million
3. Last Vegas: $8.85 million
4. Free Birds: $8.3 million
5. Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa: $7.7 million
6. Gravity: $6.3 million
7. Ender’s Game: $6.2 million
8. 12 Years a Slave: $4.7 million
9. Captain Phillips: $4.5 million
10. About Time: $3.5 million
