Box office juggernaut The Hunger Games was finally toppled this weekend by a couple of unlikely suspects, one a battle-of-the-sexes comedy and the other a romantic drama starring Zac Efron. Taking this past weekend’s top spot was Sony/Screen Gems’ Think Like a Man, starring Jerry Ferrara, Meagan Good, and Kevin Hart. This marks the fourth time Sony has had a movie open at number one, which is more than any other studio this year. Three of those number one movies have come under the Screen Gems label, including Think Like a Man, The Vow, and Underworld: Awakening.
Hit the jump for a rundown of this weekend’s box office results.
Think Like a Man opened on top this week with just over $33.6 million in only 2015 theaters across the country. According to Box Office Mojo, the films $16,377 per-theater average ranks only behind The Hunger Games and The Lorax for debut weekends. Think Like a Man’s success comes from a very strong marketing push and a broadly appealing premise. The movie’s performance is even more impressive considering its only moderate star power.
Coming in at second place this week was romantic drama The Lucky One starring Zac Efron. The Warner Brothers’ film finished with $22 million, outpacing The Notebook and riding the success of huge films like Dear John and The Vow. The film follows a young marine (Efron) who returns to North Carolina to find a woman he thinks is his lucky charm. The film, based on the Nicholas Sparks novel, is the second highest debuting Sparks film behind 2010’s Dear John.
In third place this week with just over $14.6 million is reigning 4-week champion The Hunger Games, which fell over 30 percent from last week. The film has brought in $356 million through its first month in theaters.
The last new release in this week’s top ten was Disney documentary Chimpanzee, which follows a 3-year-old chimpanzee separated from his group and adopted by another full-grown male. The film, narrated by Tim Allen, made $10.6 million dollars in its first week, which is the best debut for a nature-based documentary all-time, and behind only Justin Bieber: Never Say Never and Fahrenheit 9/11 in documentary openings.
With upcoming summer blockbusters Men in Black 3 and The Amazing Spider-Man, look for Sony to continue its box office dominance.
Domestic Box Office Top Five:
- Think Like a Man ($33.6 million)
- The Lucky One ($22.5 million)
- The Hunger Games ($14.6 million)
- Chimpanzee ($10.6 million)
- The Three Stooges ($9.7 million)
Discuss:
Which summer blockbuster are you most looking forward to?
[Via Box Office Mojo]