August 9-11 Box Office Results

“Elysium” had the strongest debut so far this month, and it will probably have the highest debut throughout August. However, its $29.8 million debut is a little disappointing; considering “District 9” had a $37.3 million debut back in August 2009 with no star power. It was the best release of the weekend critically, with a 65% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes. However, it only had a ‘B’ Cinemascore, so that’s also a little disappointing.

“We’re the Millers” had a surprisingly good debut in second place with $26.4 million. It received an ‘A-‘ Cinemascore, and it should hold well throughout its run – with no pure comedies coming out until August 23rd’s “The World’s End.”

“Planes” received an ‘A-‘ Cinemascore on a $22.2 million debut. It was enough to earn it third place, but not enough for me to see it. There’s already a sequel on its way, so that kind-of sucks. “Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters” had a middling $14.4 million, but it earned $23.25 million in its first five days.

With four releases coming out this weekend, it seems as if “We’re the Millers” will have the best holdover. Here’s how the Top 10 performed:

Title: Prediction/Result/Difference

1. Elysium: $38.4m/$29.807m/$8.593m over
2. We’re the Millers (5-day): $28.6m/$37.908m/$9.308m over
3. Planes: $20.25m/$22.232m/$1.982 over
4. Percy Jackson 2 (5-day): $26.9m/$23.258/$3.642m over
5. 2 Guns: $15.15m/$11.249m/$3.901m over
6. The Smurfs: $9.32m/$9, 328, 495/$8,495 under
7. The Wolverine: $12.11m/$8.024m/$4.086m over
8. The Conjuring: $8.08m/$6.627m/$1.453m over
9. Despicable Me 2: $6.7m/$5.915m/$785, 000 over
10. Grown Ups 2: $5.15m/$3.645m/$1.505m over

For the four (4) new releases, I was off by $23.525 million.
For the six (6) holdovers, I was off by $11, 738, 495.