WEEKEND BOX OFFICE: 'Butler' Serves Up Shocking Upset Over Violent 'Kick-Ass' Sequel

In what was one of the most unpredictable weekends of the summer, let alone the year, Lee Daniels' The Butler denied Kick-Ass 2 from living up to its name and taking the top spot this weekend at the box office.

After various legal disputes over the title and scheduling changes, there's been plenty of buzz surrounding The Butler. Oprah Winfrey has also been diligently promoting the period piece, which she also stars in. The Butler plays up the "based on a true story" characteristics attributing to the 30-plus year tenure of a White House butler.

Foul-mouthed superhero sequel, Kick-Ass 2 debuted with a disappointing fourth place start, opening just over $13 million. The weak opening shocked many moviegoers and analysts after the first film's audience grew on home media and was expected to translate strong for the sequel. The Steve Jobs bio-pic, Jobs and Harrison Ford's Paranoia also opened over the weekend; neither of which snagged a spot in the Top 5.

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. 

WEEKEND BOX OFFICE: 'The Wolverine' Attacks Top Spot Despite Weaker X-Men Franchise Opening

There was no surprise that The Wolverine would claw its way to the top spot at the box office this weekend, however the standalone mutant film starring Hugh Jackman debuted weaker than every other X-Men film in the franchise with the exception of the first film from 2000.

The Wolverine transports adamantium-clawed superhero halfway around the globe to Japan to reunite with an industrial tycoon whose life he saved during World War II. Despite being based on a popular 80's X-Men arc, a $55 million opening for The Wolverine is startling for a franchise that has boasted higher numbers in the past.   

Last week's top film, The Conjuring and previous two-week champion Despicable Me 2 continued to hold strong in the face of competition. The James Wan scare fest closes in on a successful $100 million run, while Illumination Entertainment's animated spy flick became to second film of 2013 to cross $300 million domestically.

WEEKEND BOX OFFICE: 'Purge' Terrorizes Charts at #1, Places 'Internship' on Lockdown

Google might be one of the largest players online, but audiences were turned off by The Internship, an Owen Wilson and Vince Vaughn comedy where two become interns at the online juggernaut. Instead the top spot at the box office weekend this past weekend went to the micro-marketed thriller, The Purge. 

Last week's top pair, Fast & Furious 6 and Now You See Me continue to hold despite growing competition at the box office. Both films are still gunning for $250 million and $100 million runs respectively, which were predicted to be highly unlikely a month ago.

With the highly anticipated Superman reboot, Man of Steel being released this Friday and Monsters University the Friday after, the current slew of releases are racking up the numbers now before two potentially large week-to-week declines. 

WEEKEND BOX OFFICE: 'Fast & Furious' Rides Again, 'Now You See Me' Outplays 'After Earth'

After a record-setting Memorial Day weekend, all of the key holdovers fell over 50 percent over the weekend. Despite a hefty 64 percent drop, Fast & Furious 6 rode to the top spot once again for the second weekend in a row.

The real upset of the weekend was Now You See Me outperforming its new release competition After Earth. With household names like Will Smith and M. Night Shyamalan attached to the sci-fi survival flick, After Earth was a shoe-in for the runner-up spot. After a string of panned releases including The Happening and The Last Airbender, M. Night Shyamalan certainly has his detractors, many of whom seemed to have abandoned the director.

Other May holdovers, Star Trek Into Darkness and Epic continued to battle it out for the final two spots of this weekend's Top 5. Comedy sequel The Hangover Part III quickly plummeted down the chart in its second week, sending the Wolfpack out with a whimper. 
  

WEEKEND BOX OFFICE: 'Fast & Furious 6' Fuels Record Memorial Day Weekend, 'Hangover' Ends Up Wasted

With tentpoles, Fast & Furious 6 and The Hangover Part III going head-to-head on the same weekend and two major blockbusters holding over, this Memorial Day weekend became the third largest weekend in box office history.

Vin Diesel action vehicle, Fast & Furious 6 topped the box office with ease with a franchise-record $98.5 million, while the third Wolfpack outing failed to live up to the hype despite switching gears after the 2011 rehash that simply swapped out Vegas for Bangkok disappointed fans of the 2009 breakout comedy.

Blue Sky's Epic attracted the family crowd, who weren't all that into fast rides or man-child antics. With no family films out in theaters since DreamWorks The Croods, Epic challenged last week's #1, Star Trek Into Darkness for the 3rd spot.

WEEKEND BOX OFFICE: 'Star Trek' Warps to #1, Misses $100 Million 4-Day Target

The burning question coming out of this past weekend was what just happened to Star Trek Into Darkness? Banking on the success of the 2009 blockbuster and the new found coolness to be a Trekkie, Into Darkness had its sights a reasonable $100 million over its first four days in release.

Not only did Star Trek fail to meet that milestone, but the sequel opened a notch lower than the previous film with an extra day and IMAX sneak peek. Granted, the switch from releasing Star Trek Into Darkness from May 17th to May 16th may have confused some moviegoers, but this less-than-stellar start will require substantial word-of-mouth to strike lightning twice.

Whether or not, Star Trek Into Darkness manages to cross $250 million or even $200 million remains to be seen, but the summer competition continues to stay fierce.

WEEKEND BOX OFFICE: 'Gatsby' Parties Large at #2, Comes Up Short Against 'Iron Man' Repeat

It wasn't no surprise that superhero juggernaut Iron Man 3 and Baz Luhrmann's stylistic retelling of F. Scott Fitzgerald's American classic would pack a 1-2 punch during this weekend's Mother's Day frame.

But was anyone expecting Luhrman's The Great Gatsby to benefit from being pushed back from a Oscar-bait holiday release to being sandwiched between two of summer's most anticipated releases, a spot dreaded by many jockeying for heated positions? $51 million says differently.

Now two weeks deep into an already lucrative summer movie season, the studio tentpoles on deck in the coming weeks have their work cut out for them. And will any be able to catch up to Iron Man 3's overperforming haul?
     

WEEKEND BOX OFFICE: 'Iron Man 3' Scores Second Largest Opening Weekend Behind 'Avengers'

Summer might not technically start until late June, but for the movie industry, the first week of May has been the traditional kickoff as the movie-going masses clamor to the first must-see event of the year.

2013 is no different as for the seventh consecutive year, Marvel Studios takes full advantage of the being the first big summer blockbuster of out the gate with the highly anticipated follow-up to last summer's The Avengers.

Attempting to bring down last year's record-breaking $207 million opening weekend behemoth seemed a bit too ambitious even for Marvel, however Iron Man 3 claimed the all-time #2 spot almost one year to the day with a franchise-best $175.3 million.