WEEKEND BOX OFFICE: Futuristic Commentary 'Elysium' Leads Overcrowded Weekend, Falls Short of 'District 9' Debut

Four new releases debuted in a heavily crowded frame this past weekend, but it was Neill Blomkamp's futuristic social commentary Elysium that emerged victorious with its $30 million opening. 

Elysium stars Matt Damon as a dying factory worker in the year 2154, who's only chance of survival is to find a way aboard a luxurious space colony where the wealthy are provided with the finest health care of the future. Elysium is supplied with a more prominent cast and larger budget than Blomkamp's 2009 directorial debut, District 9, but while Elysium secured the top spot at the box office this past weekend, it failed to match the director's previous opening.

The other three new releases, We're the Millers, Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters and Planes fought over the remaining spots in the Top 5, leaving last week's #1, 2 Guns barely hanging on to the final spot at the box office.

WEEKEND BOX OFFICE: Washington, Wahlberg Action Flick Outguns 'Smurfs' Sequel in Weekend Frame

Normally it's the evil wizard Gargamel's job to cause despair for the Smurfs, but not this weekend as Denzel Washington and Mark Wahlberg's bested the little blue people from the top spot with their latest action flick, 2 Guns. 

In 2 Guns, Washington and Wahlberg get caught up in robbing millions of dollars from a Mexican drug cartel, but while the formulaic action plot catapulted the film to the top spot of this weekend's box office, its $27 million opening is also the lowest #1 of the summer. 

Family film, The Smurfs 2 fell short of not only the top spot, but also the #2 spot even finding itself behind last week's superhero champion, The Wolverine. Opening this past Wednesday, the Smurfs sequel burned nearly $10 million of its gross before the weekend started, leaving its 3-day total about half of the first film's $35 million opening weekend.