After a couple of quiet weeks, there was a bit of a crush of new movies at the US box office this weekend, and heading into the weekend nobody was entirely certain which would end up on top. In the end it was the Matt Damon sci-fi Elysium, which took $30 million to top the chart. That’s a passable start, although not as much as the $35 million plus Sony had been hoping for.
We’re The Millers came in second with $26 million over the weekend and $38 million since it hit cinemas last Wednesday. Going into the weekend some thought the movie had a chance to come out on top, but it eased off on Saturday, although the Ed Helm and Jennifer Aniston movie still did pretty well.
After a very strong Friday, Disney’s Planes didn’t quite capitalise on that on Saturday and Sunday, ending up in third place with $22.5 million. Although it’s not a massive start compared to some other animated offerings, it only cost $50 million to make – significantly less than the $100 million plus most major CGI movies cost – so it’s still likely to turn a handsome profit.
Percy Jackson: Sea Of Monsters had less reason the cheer with a fourth place finish and a $14.6 million weekend, with the film taking $23 million since it opened last Wednesday. That’s significantly less than the $37 million the first movie opened with, and at the time even that was seen as a mediocre start. However the earlier movie did strong business outside the US, so Fox will be hoping for the same with the sequel.
Here’s the US box office top 10 for the weekend of August 9th-11th.
| Rank | Title | Weekend Gross (millions) | Total Gross to date (millions) |
| 1 | Elysium | $30.4 | $30.4 |
| 2 | We’re The Millers | $26.5 | $38.0 |
| 3 | Planes | $22.5 | $22.5 |
| 4 | Percky Jackson: Sea Of Monsters | $14.6 | $23.4 |
| 5 | 2 Guns | $11.1 | $48.5 |
| 6 | The Smurfs 2 | $9.5 | $46.6 |
| 7 | The Wolverine | $8.0 | $111.9 |
| 8 | The Conjuring | $6.7 | $120.7 |
| 9 | Despicable Me 2 | $5.7 | $338.3 |
| 10 | Grown Ups 2 | $3.7 | $123.8 |