Weekend Box Office

Wolverine came, and easily took the top place at the weekend box office, but it was more of a whimper than a boom-- the X-Men franchise still has some rehabilitation to stabilize the creative drudge that came from X-Men: The Last Stand (2006) and X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009.)  It was hardly the news story of the weekend however.

1. The Wolverine- $55 million (new)
2. The Conjuring- $22.1 million / $83.8 million total (-47%)
3. Despicable Me 2- $16 millin / $306.4 million total (-35%)-- now the second highest grossing domestic title of 2013, behind Iron Man 3.
4. Turbo- $13.3 million / $55.7 million total (-37%)
5. Grown Ups 2- $11.5 million / $101.6 million total (-42%)- this marks Adam Sandler's 13th title to gross north of $100 million domestically-- how do we feel about that?
6. Red 2- $9.4 million / $35 million total (-47%)
7. Pacific Rim- $7.5 million / $84 million total (-52%)
8. The Heat- $6.8 million / $141.2 million total (-26%)
9. R.I.P.D.- $5.8 million / $24.3 million total (-53%)
10. Fruitvale Station- $4.6 million / $6.3 million total (+529%)

BELOW THE TOP TEN

The big news story was the astounding opening weekend gross for Woody Allen's Blue Jasmine, which earned $613,000 on 6 screens this weekend for a per-screen average of $102,167.  That's the biggest per-screen average of the year so far, the biggest of Woody Allen's career (slightly above the $99,834 Midnight in Paris posted just years ago) unadjusted for inflation, the biggest per-screen victory ever accounted in Sony Pictures Classics' history (again, unadjusted) and enough to encourage the possibility that the critically accepted, already award-buzzed about film will expand well in the coming weeks.

Here's the Per-Screen Average Breakdown of 2013 So Far:

1. Blue Jasmine- $101,167 (6 screens)
2. Spring Breakers- $87,667 (3 screens)
3. The Place Beyond the Pines- $69,864 (4 screens)
4. Fruitvale Station- $55,184 (7 screens)
5. Before Midnight- $49,483 (5 screens)
6. The Bling Ring- $42,879 (5 screens)
7. Iron Man 3- $40,946 (4,253 screens)