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.

'The Conjuring' Frightens Away Guts and Gore For Retro Ghost Hunting

Lorraine Warren (Vera Farmiga) confronts the evil entity tormenting a Rhode Island family.

For a while there, director James Wan failed to generate the same level of genre-changing thrills that his breakout slasher Saw had in 2004. Dead Silence and Death Sentence weren't exactly resume highlights, however Wan returned to the horror scene in early 2011 with his terrifying supernatural thriller Insidious, which gave  audiences a second wind of Wan's contemporary mastery of the genre, and in return scared the living daylights out of them as hefty thank you. Wan now continues to spread his wings into the supernatural once more with The Conjuring.

From the start, The Conjuring claims to be based on the undisclosed investigation of paranormal team Ed and Lorraine Warren, most notable for their involvement in the Amityville Horror case. The Conjuring, however, is set a few years before Amityville as the Warrens (Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga) investigate the disturbing events at house of the Perrons, a Rhode Island couple living with their five girls.

WEEKEND BOX OFFICE: 'Conjuring' Frightens the Masses During Overcrowded Weekend Frame

With four new releases launching onto the big screen this weekend, Despicable Me 2's impressive back-to-back run as the top film at the box office was set to end.

The Conjuring starring Patrick Wilson (Insidious) and Vera Farmiga (Bates Motel) scared up a first place finish with an estimated $42 million, setting a horror record for  non-sequels, prequels or reboots. The Conjuring also is a career high for director James Wan (Saw, Insidious).

Dropping to the second place, Illumination Entertainment's Despicable Me 2 continued to fend off the other three new releases, Turbo, RED 2 and R.I.P.D. with another $25 million added to its $276 million 3-week run. Despicable Me 2 is now the highest grossing animated film from the past three years.