In what’s been a surprise to nearly everyone, Cowboys & Aliens and The Smurfs have tied at the top of the US box office this weekend, both taking an estimated $36.2 million. Final figures released later today should show which film actually came out on top, but at the moment it’s a dead heat. Going into the weekend, Cowboys was expected to be the clear winner, with tracking saying it would gross north of $40 million, with The Smurfs considered lucky to break $30 million. However with one overperforming and the other underperforming, it’s been a bit of a box office upset.
It’s not the best of starts for Cowboys, which many had thought could be a major hit and was tracking well. However it seems when push came to shove, getting people through the door proved difficult – and seeing as it cost over $170 million to make, it needed a good start. Smurfs meanwhile looks like it’s going the Alvin & The Chipmunks route of being pretty much ignored and written off by the film world, but going on to become a significant success.
The only other opener was the Ryan Gosling and Steve Carell flick, Crazy Stupid Love, which took an okay $19.3 million to finish fifth. It’s a passable start for a rom-com, but isn’t likely to become a standout success.
Deathly Hallows 2 meanwhile continues to power ahead, crossing the $1 billion worldwide gross mark over the weekend, becoming only the ninth film to do so. With the movie still making significant amounts of cash and a Chinese opening yet to come, the movie is likely to become the third highest grossing film ever by the end of its run, ahead of Return Of The King but behind Avatar and Titanic. And in a few days time, there’ll be another member of the billion dollar club, as Transformers 3 is now on $982 million, and should cross the landmark in the next few days.
Take a look below for the US box office top 10 for the weekend of July 29th-August 1st.
| Rank | Title | Weekend Gross (millions) | Total Gross to date (millions) |
| 1 | Cowboys & Aliens | $36.2 | $36.2 |
| 2 | The Smurfs | $36.2 | $36.2 |
| 3 | Captain America: the First Avenger | $24.9 | $116.7 |
| 4 | Harry Potter And The Deathy Hallows – Part 2 | $21.9 | $318.4 |
| 5 | Crazy, Stupid Love | $19.3 | $19.3 |
| 6 | Friends With Benefits | $9.3 | $38.2 |
| 7 | Horrible Bosses | $7.1 | $96.2 |
| 8 | Transformers: Dark Of The Moon | $5.9 | $337.8 |
| 9 | Zookeeper | $4.2 | $68.7 |
| 10 | Cars 2 | $2.3 | $182.0 |