Most media observers expected the first big showdown of the summer to be closer than it was.
Two tentpole, potential blockbusters opened over the weekend and when the smoke cleared, the clear winner was the “Night at the Museum: The Smithsonian Adventure.” The Ben Stiller-led family comedy took in $70 million in receipts over the long weekend. In second was the latest installment of the “Terminator” franchise, “Terminator: Salvation.” The film has a respectable $53.8 million box-office weekend, but that was far short of the $75 million predicted for its first weekend by experts.
Executives at Warner Bros., which released “Terminator”, put a brave face on the weekend numbers. But the debut fell $15 million short of some analysts’ projections.
“There are no sour grapes; Night at the Museum performed better,” says Warner distribution chief Dan Fellman. “Whenever you open on a Thursday, you’re going to take a hit, and the (NBA) playoffs probably took a bite out of our core male audience.”
Meanwhile, “Star Trek” continues to show solid box-office receipts. The movie took in another $29 million over the weekend and is on course to pass the $200 million mark this week. The latest total makes it the biggest hit of the summer to date.
“Angels & Demons” was fourth with $27.7 million. The comedy “Dance Flick” made its debut with $13.1 million, which met most expectations.
Ticket sales were up 68% from last weekend and 1% ahead of the same weekend last year. Final figures are out today.
