Brad Pitt zombie flick manages second place despite history of production troubles, while Man of Steel holds third to consolidate its blockbuster status
Monsters University delivered an emphatic performance to lead the North American charts with $82m over the weekend as the Pixar prequel scored the company’s second biggest opening behind the $110.3m set by Toy Story in 2010. This left Superman and the zombies to slug it out for second place. The accolade went to World War Z thanks to $66m – a new opening record for Brad Pitt.
Last year’s gripes and grumbles about delays and overspends on Paramount’s zombie action thriller seem fairly distant now as the movie arrived in style, grossing a further $45.8m or so outside North America to propel the global running total to an early $111.8m. It should surge past $200m in a week and will keep on growing with strong holdovers expected in the US and plenty of major international territories to come.
World War Z is off to a great start but according to received wisdom it needs to gross around $500m worldwide to break even. That’s because the movie reportedly cost more than $200m to make after studio executives baulked at the original ending, which was deemed to be too abrupt and did not lend itself to a sequel. They sanctioned a major rewrite from Star Trek Into Darkness screenwriter Damon Lindelof and 40 minutes of new footage.
Throw in rumours of “creative differences” between Pitt (who also produced World War Z) and director Marc Forster and it’s no wonder the release date was pulled back from December 2012. Studio executives will learn a lot from this experience, not least how fickle the Hollywood press can be. There was a spate of published jeremiads about the movie’s prospects last year as people who had not seen a second of footage wrote off its chances. Now those very same outlets are cooing and fussing over a potential blockbuster.
Man of Steel is playing well for Warner Bros and crossed $200m in its second weekend after adding $41.2m to rank number three. The reboot has amassed more than $393m worldwide and is a bona fide summer smash thanks to the dedicated core of superhero fans. Monsters University’s appeal is broader still and as the classic four-quadrant tentpole movie it appeals to young and old, male and female alike. They certainly turned in numbers and are expected to do so again next week.
North American top 10, Jun 21-23 2013
1. Monsters University $82m
2. World War Z $66m
3. Man of Steel $41.2m. Total: $210m
4. This is the End $13m. Total: $57.8m
5. Now You See Me $7.9m. Total: $94.5m
6. Fast & Furious 6 $4.7m. Total: $228.4m
7. The Internship $3.4m. Total: $38.4m
8. The Purge $3.4m. Total: $59.4m
9. Star Trek Into Darkness $3m. Total: $216.6m
10. Iron Man 3 $2.2m. Total: $403.1m