Weekend box office, May 31 - June 2, 2013: Now You See Me Tricks After Earth

Fast & Furious 6 topped the weekend again with $34.5 million. The bigger news is that Now You See Me took second place, with the bigger budgeted, higher profile After Earth taking in a surprisingly low $27 million. After Earth's low debut is similar to those of 2012 sci-fi dissapointments John Carter and Battleship, though its $130 million budget makes it a smaller bomb than those $200 million+ investments. Fast 6 and The Hangover Part III both experienced larger than usual weekend gross drops of over 60%. Large drops are typical for the Fast series, and Fast 6 should easily become the highest grossing one yet. The original Hangover, however, had found success by retaining unusually large attendance numbers. Part III disappointed audiences and is expected to fall short of both its predecessors.

After Earth is disappointing for both Will and Jaden Smith, whose most recent works (Men in Black 3 and The Karate Kid) both debuted in the area of $55 million. Will Smith is popular, but his name couldn't beat the negative reviews and uninteresting marketing. Now You See Me is a modest success, but it's also modestly budgeted and should be profitable. Star Trek continues to perform well, though it's now trailing the 2009 film by about $10 million. Epic has less than three weeks until Monsters University captures the family audience. You may have never heard of #9 film Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani (translation: This Youth Is Crazy). It's a well-received Bollywood film released in only 161 theaters. And Iron Man 3 is now the world's fifth-highest grossing film. Read more about the box office here and see all of the weekend estimates here.

Weekend Box Office estimates, May 31 - June 2, 2013:

1. Fast & Furious 6; $34,538,000; $170,377,000; -64.5%; 2nd weekend

2. Now You See Me; $28,050,000; opening weekend

3. After Earth; $27,000,000; opening weekend

4. Star Trek Into Darkness; $16,400,000; $181,156,000 total; -56.0%; 3rd weekend

4. Epic; $16,400,000; $65,161,000 total; -51.1%; 2nd weekend

6. The Hangover Part III; $15,930,000; $88,086,000 total; -61.8%; 2nd weekend

7. Iron Man 3; $8,006,000; $384,751,000 total; -58.6%; 5th weekend

8. The Great Gatsby; $6,265,000; $128,256,000 total; 4th weekend

9. Yei Jawaani Hai Deewani; $1,651,000; opening weekend

10. Mud; $1,226,000; $16,866,000 total; -36.8%; 6th weekend

Weekend Box Office: May 26 - 29, 2013

Overstuffed with popular new and recent releases, theaters took in an estimated $316 million this Memorial Day weekend, significantly beating the previous record of $277 million set in 2011. Fast & Furious 6 ran over its competition, having the fourth-best Memorial Day weekend of all time with $120 million. The Hangover Part III may have been hurt by its poor critical reception and franchise fatigue, grossing about half of what Part II made during that 2011 record-setting weekend. Epic opened in line with other Blue Sky productions that aren't part of the Ice Age franchise, taking in $33 million by Sunday night.

This May featured a strong, varied group of blockbusters, shown by continued interest in Iron Man, Star Trek, and Gatsby. Into Darkness nearly beat The Hangover, but it's barely outpacing the previous movie which may indicate a lack of audience growth. Mud continues to do well as the largest indie release, while Frances Ha and Before Midnight, the weekend's other new sequel, fared well in very limited numbers of theaters. Midnight only showed on 5 screens, but those theaters must have been packed because its three-day per-screen average exceeded $54,000, more than doubling Fast 6's $26,935. Read more about the box office here, and see the three and four day weekend estimates here and here.

Top 10 box office estimates for May 26 - 28, 2013 (Friday - Sunday):

1. Fast & Furious 6; $96,791,000; $120,019,000 total; opening weekend

2. The Hangover Part III; $41,775,000; $63,004,000 total; opening weekend

3. Star Trek Into Darkness; $37,284,000; $155,827,000 total; -46.9%; 2nd weekend

4. Epic; $33,500,000; $42,600,000 total; opening weekend

5. Iron Man 3; $19,213,000; $372,434,000 total; -46.3%; 4th weekend

6. The Great Gatsby; $13,620,000; $117,747,000 total; -43.1%; 3rd weekend

7. Mud; $1,928,000; $15,034,000 total; +8.7%; 5th weekend

8. 42; $1,928,000; $91,411,000 total; -42.9%; 7th weekend

9. The Croods; $1,220,000; $179,638,000 total; -59.7%; 10th weekend

10. Oblivion; $840,000; $87,558,000 total; -64.1%; 6th weekend

*Frances Ha; $546,000; $912,000 total; 2nd weekend

*Before Midnight; $247,000; $322,000 total; opening weekend

What to Watch This Weekend: May 24, 2013

In Theaters: Fast & Furious 6

So far, this is the most fun of this year's summer blockbusters. The story and stunts are often ridiculous, but in a funny, self-aware way. The driving and fight scenes are creative and don't have that fake, computer-animated feel common in so many big-budget films. And it's surprisingly funny. If you're looking for comedy this weekend, this may satisfy your cravings more than the disappointing Hangover Part III. Check out the review.

On DVD: Side Effects

What initially seems like a drama exploring the side effects of antidepressants becomes a complicated psychological thriller. Toward the end, the plot twists start seeming a bit silly but, overall, it's a suspenseful and surprising movie with another great performance by Dragon Tattoo actress Rooney Mara.

Streaming (HBO GO): Moonrise Kingdom

When focusing on its strange, charming 12-year-old protagonists, Moonrise is a funny and sweet tale of young love and preteen rebellion. The third act falls short as more time is spent on odder, quirkier characters and plot developments, but the rest is worth seeing.

Streaming (Amazon Prime Instant Video): The Painted Veil

This period drama is available until Friday, May 31. It's an adaptation of a 1925 novel starring Edward Norton and Naomi Watts as a scientist and his wealthy socialite lover, who feels out of her element upon traveling with him to medical posts in the less glamorous parts of China. It's well-acted and shot in beautiful locations. May be a good way to wind down after an exciting holiday weekend.

Review: Fast and Furious 6

Release Date:  May 24, 2013

Running Time: 130 minutes
Starring: Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, Dwayne Johnson, Tyrese, Ludacris

Who to see it with: Someone who likes fast cars and fun action!

David:

I love the Fast and Furious movies. I've been hooked ever since the second one. Although I really liked the first effort, the 2 Fast 2 Furious had the right combination of fast cars and stunts, light-hearted humor, and a certain self-awareness that makes for an enjoyable movie.  The series tried to go back to a serious note with the fourth installment, but returned to form in Fast Five. What I loved about the fifth movie was that it became a who's who of Fast and Furious cast members--all your favorites were back for the latest adventure. Not only did they bring back all the best cast members, they added the Rock--the perfect addition to the Fast cast.  Well, the latest installment in this phenomenal hexalogy is here and it continues along the same trajectory as the fifth movie. 

Fast 6 follows the same group of your favorite Fast and Furious teammates as they try to catch an international criminal with a penchant for driving fast cars through crowded cities. The team is enlisted by the Rock in order help take down the mastermind and his crew. Sound crazy? Who cares! It's the perfect set up for intense car chases and lots of explosions. Your favorite cast is back and better than ever. Vin Diesel and Paul Walker deliver terrible dialog but you love them for it. Ludacris and Tyrese are very funny--especially Tyrese as the wise cracking always hungry team member. Han and Gisele provide some additional funny lines and moments. And the Rock is just perfect as usual. If you've enjoyed seeing this team interact in the last movies, then you're going to love them in this. 

And it wouldn't be a Fast and Furious movie without some great fights and car chases. They're expertly done with some really amazing driving and imaginative chase scenes. One thing that I really appreciated about this movie is that it feels like most of the action scenes are true action scenes. I've noticed a lot of obvious and distracting CG on TV and in movies but I didn't notice it here. I'm sure that it's used, but from what I saw it looked and felt like legit action with old school stunts. Also, the fighting was excellently choreographed and even had plenty of funny and exciting moments that had the audience cheering. Look, the Fast and Furious movies aren't perfect films, but they're perfect at what they do. They're B-movies with A-list production values. And they're one of the few Hollywood franchises that seems to be getting better with each iteration. This sequel was exactly what I wanted from the Fast and Furious franchise. 

See it.

PS - There IS a stinger right before the credits roll.  Make sure to stay for it!