Kristen Wiig, Bridesmaids
Thor, directed by Kenneth Branagh, and starring Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman, Anthony Hopkins, and Tom Hiddleston, was the leader at the North American box office this past weekend, May 13-15, grossing $34.7m according to actuals found at Box Office Mojo.
But the real success story of the weekend was that of Paul Feig’s extremely well-received comedy Bridesmaids, which took in nearly two million more than estimated yesterday.
Starring Kristen Wiig, Bridesmaids collected $26.27m at no. 2, thus reaching the highest per-theater average among the top-twelve movies: $8,995. The Universal release also featuresMaya Rudolph, Melissa McCarthy, Jon Hamm, Rose Byrne, and Jill Clayburgh’s last film appearance.
Surprisingly, several other films actually earned more than what was reported on Sunday: Fast Five (nearly $1m), Priest ($500k), Rio ($250k), and Water for Elephants ($100k).
At no. 3, Fast Five, starring Paul Walker, Vin Diesel, Dwayne Johnson, and Jordana Brewster, drew $20.44m. Partly thanks to its North American figures, the Justin Lin-directed actioner is now the most successful 2011 release at the worldwide box office.
At no. 4, newcomer Priest, directed by Scott Charles Stewart, and starring Paul Bettany, Cam Gigandet, Maggie Q, Karl Urban, and Lily Collins, pulled in $14.95m.
At no. 5, Carlos Saldanha’s Rio, featuring the voices of Jesse Eisenberg and Anne Hathaway, took in $8.27m, down a minuscule 3% compared to last weekend. Internationally, Rio remains the biggest 2011 hit.
Next in line were Paula Patton and Angela Bassett’s Jumping the Broom with $7.06m at no. 6, and Ginnifer Goodwin and Kate Hudson’s Something Borrowed with $6.87m at no. 7.
The Reese Witherspoon-Robert Pattinson-Christoph Waltz circus drama Water for Elephants drew $4.2m at no. 8.
Rounding out the top twelve were Tyler Perry’s Madea’s Big Happy Family with $2.21m, AnnaSophia Robb’s Soul Surfer with $1.82m, Glenn Close-Hayden Panettiere’s Hoodwinked Too! Hood vs. Evil with $1.15m, Patrick Wilson-Rose Byrne’s Insidious with $958k.
Gone from the top twelve were the Disney documentary African Cats, Jake Gyllenhaal-Michelle Monaghan’s Source Code, and Aimee Teegarden-Thomas McDonell’s Prom.
Among the top-twelve movies Bridesmaids had the highest per-theater average, $8,995. Hoodwinked Too! Hood vs. Evil had the lowest, $902.
Also among the top twelve (barring newcomers Bridesmaids and Priest), Jumping the Broom posted the highest weekend-to-weekend drop-off rate, -54%. Rio posted the lowest, -3%.
Photo: Bridesmaids (Universal Pictures).