the top ten movies in north america

[Peter T. Chattaway]

http://www.boxofficemojo.com/weekend/chart/

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) -- Following are ticket sales for the top 10 movies
at the North American box office for the June 24-26 weekend, according to
studio estimates issued Sunday. Final data will be issued Monday.

[***] 1 (+) Cars 2 .......................... $68.0 million 68.0 million
[***] 2 (+) Bad Teacher ..................... $31.0 million 31.0 million
[***] 3 (1) Green Lantern ................... $18.4 million 89.3 million
[***] 4 (2) Super 8 ......................... $12.1 million 95.2 million
[***] 5 (3) Mr. Popper's Penguins ........... $10.3 million 39.4 million
[***] 6 (4) X-Men: First Class ............... $6.6 million 132.8 million
[***] 7 (5) The Hangover Part II ............. $5.9 million 243.9 million
[***] 8 (7) Bridesmaids ...................... $5.4 million 146.7 million
[***] 9 (8) Pirates of the Caribbean: ... .... $4.7 million 229.1 million
[***] 10(9) Midnight in Paris ................ $4.5 million 28.6 million

NOTE: Last weekend's position in parenthesis. + indicates a new release.
Figures are rounded.

- - -

FWIW, despite the crushingly bad reviews it got -- it is the first Pixar
movie to get trashed as "rotten" at Rotten Tomatoes -- Cars 2 is almost
tied with 2009's Up for the 4th-biggest opening in Pixar's history.

http://boxofficemojo.com/franchises/chart/?view=openings&id=pixar.htm&p=.htm

Also FWIW, Bad Teacher has the fourth-highest opening of any live-action
film starring Cameron Diaz, behind only The Green Hornet (2011, $33.5
million) and the two Charlie's Angels films (2000, $40.1 million; 2003,
$37.6 million). All four Shrek movies opened bigger, too.

http://boxofficemojo.com/people/chart/?view=Actor&id=camerondiaz.htm

Also FWIW, Bridesmaids is only a couple million bucks away from passing
Knocked Up to be the biggest movie Judd Apatow has ever produced.

http://boxofficemojo.com/people/chart/?view=Producer&id=juddapatow.htm

Also FWIW, Midnight in Paris is now the fourth-highest grossing film that
Woody Allen has directed ... though he's made movies pretty much every
year since the late '60s, so this obviously doesn't take inflation into
account (although, if we *did* take it into account, Midnight Paris would
need only another two million bucks or so to crack Woody's top ten):

1986 Hannah and Her Sisters $40.1 million
1979 Manhattan $39.9 million
1977 Annie Hall $38.3 million
2011 *** MIDNIGHT IN PARIS *** $28.6 million
2008 Vicky Cristina Barcelona $23.2 million

http://boxofficemojo.com/people/chart/?view=Director&id=woodallen.htm
http://popwatch.ew.com/2011/06/23/woody-allen-midnight-in-paris-adjusted-for-inflation/

Also FWIW, Kung Fu Panda fell off the domestic top ten this week, and it
is currently only the 12th-highest-grossing DreamWorks cartoon in North
America, but overseas it currently ranks #6, and as of this writing, it is
virtually tied with How to Train Your Dragon for the #7 spot worldwide
(behind the three Shrek sequels, the two Madagascar films and the original
Kung Fu Panda). Here is how the overseas-only grosses compare:

2010 Shrek Forever After $513.9 million
2004 Shrek 2 $478.6 million
2007 Shrek the Third $476.2 million
2008 Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa $423.9 million
2008 Kung Fu Panda $416.3 million
2011 *** KUNG FU PANDA 2 *** $340.0 million
2005 Madagascar $339.1 million
2010 How to Train Your Dragon $277.3 million

http://boxofficemojo.com/franchises/chart/?id=dwanimation.htm

Also FWIW, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides is now the third
movie ever to gross over $750 million overseas; you might say it's the
top-grossing movie overseas that is *not* directed by James Cameron:

2009 Avatar $2021.8 million
1997 Titanic $1242.4 million
2011 *** PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: ON STRANGER TIDES *** $756.1 million
2003 The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King $742.1 million
2009 Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs $690.1 million

It is also now the #8 film of all time worldwide, though it is still only
the #79 film of all time in North America.

- - -

http://movies.yahoo.com/news/movies.ap.org/cars-2-keeps-pixar-drivers-seat-with-68m-ap

LOS ANGELES - Pixar Animation remains undefeated at the box-office races.

The Disney unit's animated sequel "Cars 2" cruised to a No. 1 finish with
a $68 million opening weekend, according to studio estimates Sunday. That
makes 12 wins in a row for Pixar since the company's first feature film,
1995's "Toy Story."

"It couldn't be any better than that. What an unbelievable track record
these guys have," said Chuck Viane, head of distribution for Disney.

"Cars 2" added $42.9 million in 18 overseas markets, giving it a worldwide
total of $110.9 million.

Domestically, "Cars 2" nearly matched the $68.1 million debut of
Disney-Pixar's "Up" two years ago, though it was well below the company's
record of $110.3 million for last year's "Toy Story 3."

The original "Cars" had a $60.1 million debut in 2006, but factoring in
today's higher admission prices, it sold more tickets than "Cars 2."

Premiering in second-place was Cameron Diaz's classroom comedy "Bad
Teacher" with $31 million. The Sony Pictures release added $12.9 million
overseas in about 10 countries.

The previous weekend's No. 1 flick, Ryan Reynolds' "Green Lantern," fell
to third-place with $18.4 million. That was off a steep 65 percent from
its revenues over opening weekend, raising the domestic total for the
Warner Bros. superhero tale to $89.3 million.

Both new wide releases came in ahead of industry projections, which had
pegged "Cars 2" at an opening of around $60 million and "Bad Teacher" at
about $25 million.

"Cars 2" features Owen Wilson and Larry the Cable Guy reprising their
voice roles for race car Lightning McQueen and tow truck Mater as the two
are caught up in a spy adventure during an international racing tour.

The movie overcame unusually harsh reviews for Pixar, whose films include
such critical darlings as "Ratatouille," "Finding Nemo," "The Incredibles"
and "WALL-E."

Disney's Viane said audiences gave "Cars 2" top grades in exit surveys, a
sign that the movie should have a long life at theaters like previous
Pixar flicks.

"I'm always concerned when it comes to dollars and cents. What does the
paying public think?" Viane said.

With global settings that include Japan, Italy, France and Great Britain,
"Cars 2" also has strong prospects as it continues to roll out overseas.

The international haul for "Cars 2" included $9.3 million in Russia, $8.1
million in Mexico and $7.6 million in Brazil.

While the G-rated "Cars 2" cornered the family market, "Bad Teacher" was
the weekend's grown-up choice, starring Diaz as a foul-mouthed, boozy,
gold-digging educator.

"She just went with it with great abandonment. She totally just let it
go," said Rory Bruer, head of distribution for Sony.

While women accounted for 63 percent of the audience for "Bad Teacher,"
Sony executives hope word-of-mouth over Diaz's brazen performance will
draw more men to see it in the coming weeks.

Overall domestic revenues totaled $176 million, up 6.7 percent from the
same period last year, when "Toy Story 3" remained No. 1 in its second
weekend with $59.3 million, according to box-office tracker Hollywood.com.

For the year, revenues are down 7.6 percent compared to 2010's, though a
strong summer has helped Hollywood erase most of a big downturn in
business from the sluggish winter and spring.

The upcoming Fourth of July weekend looks huge as Paramount's sci-fi
sequel "Transformers: Dark of the Moon" blows into IMAX theaters Tuesday
night and general cinemas Wednesday. That will be followed in mid-July by
the Warner Bros. fantasy finale "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows:
Part 2."

"With `Cars 2' and the one-two punch of `Transformers' and `Harry Potter,'
I think we have a shot at knocking that revenue deficit down to the
break-even point or even pulling a little bit ahead of last year," said
Hollywood.com analyst Paul Dergarabedian.

- - -

http://movies.yahoo.com/news/movies.reuters.com/critical-bomb-cars-2-races-box-office-victory-reuters

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - "Cars 2," a Pixar sequel judged by critics to be
the worst movie produced by the Disney-owned animation studio, sped to the
front of the pack at the weekend box office in North America.

According to studio estimates issued on Sunday, the cartoon earned about
$68 million during its first three days of release across the United
States and Canada.

The first "Cars" opened to $60 million in 2006, or $72 million if adjusted
for higher ticket prices. "Cars 2" also had the benefit of premium pricing
for 3D engagements.

Critics lambasted the new film, a shocking development given that they
usually fall over themselves to praise Pixar movies. Indeed, Pixar's "Toy
Story 3," which opened to $110 million a year ago, was among the best
reviewed films of 2010.

The latest sequel, viewed more as a merchandising opportunity for Pixar's
Walt Disney Co parent than another creative milestone for the
groundbreaking animation house, received approval of just 34 percent of
critics surveyed by Rotten Tomatoes. The previous low for a Pixar film was
74 percent for the first "Cars."

The Wall Street Journal said the film "seldom gets beyond mediocrity,"
while the Chicago Tribune said it was "virtually joke-free." But
fortunately for Disney, the target audience of young boys does not read
reviews.

(Reporting by Dean Goodman; Editing by Vicki Allen)

- - -

http://movies.yahoo.com/news/usmovies.thehollywoodreporter.com/disney-and-pixars-cars-2-hit-red-states

You can take the stock car out of the small town, but you can't take the
small town out of the stock car.

Even though Disney/Pixar's Cars 2 is set overseas this time -- with big
oil playing the enemy -- the 3D toon did best in America's heartland,
a.k.a., the red states.

The turnout was so strong that the pic roared past expectations to gross
an impressive $68 million in its domestic box office debut.

In the sequel, Lightning McQueen (Owen Wilson) travels to Tokyo, Italy and
London to participate in the Grand World Prix. He's accompanied by Mater
the tow truck, voiced by Larry the Cable Guy, the ultimate hick.

Mater plays more of the lead this time, and is inadvertently swept up in
an international espionage case involving big oil trying to squash the
alternative fuel movement.

Some conservatives lashed out at Pixar CEO and Cars 2 director John
Lasseter over the storyline. The Lonely Conservative, a blog, accused the
movie business of trying to indoctrinate children with "left wing
propaganda."

But Cars 2 lost none of its appeal in flyover states, where both Larry the
Cable Guy and NASCAR are immensely popular.

As with the first film, Cars 2 overperformed in the South, Midwest, South
Central (including Texas) and Mountain states.

But if the big oil vs. alternative fuel wasn't a turn off for more
conservative parts of the country, nor was it a draw for more liberal
regions. Cars 2 underperformed on the East Coast, and slightly
underperformed on the West.

Reviewers were largely critical of Cars 2, unusual for a Pixar title. Yet
moviegoers gave the film an A-CinemaScore. Males made up 53% of those
buying tickets for the toon, while 36% of the audience was under the age
of 12.

Cars 2 enjoyed a great launch overseas, where it grossed $42.9 million
from 18 territories (repping about 25% of the international market).

There's no doubt that Disney and Pixar tailored Cars 2's storyline to woo
foreign audiences. The first Cars grossed roughly $200 million
internationally, one of the lowest showings for a Pixar title.

Cars 2 opened to $9.3 million in Russia and $7.6 million in Brazil, the
best showings ever for a Pixar movie. In Mexico, the sequel debuted to a
$8.1 million and in Australia, $5.2 million.

- - -

http://www.boxofficemojo.com/yearly/chart/?yr=2011&p=.htm

The Domestic Top 15 of 2011 (as of June 26, 2011)

[***] 1 (1) The Hangover Part II (R) $243.9 million
[***] 2 (2) Pirates of the Caribbean: On ... Tides (PG-13) $229.1 million
[***] 3 (3) Fast Five (PG-13) $207.7 million
[***] 4 (4) Thor (PG-13) $177.2 million
[***] 5 (5) Kung Fu Panda 2 (PG) $153.0 million
[***] 6 (7) Bridesmaids (R) $146.7 million
[***] 7 (6) Rio (G) $139.6 million
[***] 8 (9) X-Men: First Class (PG-13) $132.8 million
[***] 9 (8) Rango (PG) $123.0 million
[***] 10(10) Hop (PG) $108.1 million
[***] 11(11) Just Go with It (PG-13) $103.0 million
[***] 11(12) Gnomeo and Juliet (G) $100.0 million
[***] 13(13) The Green Hornet (PG-13) $98.8 million
[***] 14(17) Super 8 (PG-13) $95.2 million
[***] 15(26) Green Lantern (PG-13) $89.3 million

http://www.boxofficemojo.com/yearly/chart/?view2=worldwide&yr=2011&p=.htm

The Worldwide Top 15 of 2011 (as of June 26, 2011)

[***] 1 Pirates of the ... Tides (PG-13) 229.1 + 756.1 = 985.2 million
[***] 2 Fast Five (PG-13) 207.7 + 389.0 = 596.7 million
[***] 3 The Hangover Part II (R) 243.9 + 283.2 = 527.1 million
[***] 4 Kung Fu Panda 2 (PG) 153.0 + 340.0 = 493.0 million
[***] 5 Rio (G) 139.6 + 329.6 = 469.2 million
[***] 6 Thor (PG-13) 177.2 + 259.6 = 436.8 million
[***] 7 X-Men: First Class (PG-13) 132.8 + 184.4 = 317.2 million
[***] 8 Rango (PG) 123.0 + 119.3 = 242.3 million
[***] 9 The Green Hornet (PG-13) 98.8 + 129.0 = 227.8 million
[***] 10 Just Go with It (PG-13) 103.0 + 111.9 = 214.9 million
[***] 11 Battle: Los Angeles (PG-13) 83.6 + 118.9 = 202.5 million
[***] 12 Gnomeo and Juliet (G) 100.0 + 90.0 = 190.0 million
[***] 13 Hop (PG) 108.1 + 68.8 = 176.9 million
[***] 14 Bridesmaids (R) 146.7 + 21.3 = 168.0 million
[***] 15 No Strings Attached (R) 70.7 + 77.1 = 147.8 million

- - -

http://www.boxofficemojo.com/alltime/domestic/

The Domestic Top 10 of All Time (as of June 26, 2011)

[*2*] 1 Avatar (2009) $760.5 million
[*2*] 2 Titanic (1997) $600.8 million
[***] 3 The Dark Knight (2008) $533.3 million
[*7*] 4 Star Wars (1977) $461.0 million
[***] 5 Shrek 2 (2004) $441.2 million
[*4*] 6 E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982) $435.1 million
[*3*] 7 Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (1999) $431.1 million
[***] 8 Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (2006) $423.3 million
[***] 9 Toy Story 3 (2010) $415.0 million
[*2*] 10 Spider-Man (2002) $403.7 million

http://www.boxofficemojo.com/alltime/world/

The Worldwide Top 10 of All Time (as of June 26, 2011)

[*2*] 1 Avatar (2009) 760.5 + 2021.8 = 2782.3 million
[*2*] 2 Titanic (1997) 600.8 + 1242.4 = 1843.2 million
[*4*] 3 The Lord of the Rings: ... (2003) 377.0 + 742.1 = 1119.1 million
[***] 4 Pirates of the ... Chest (2006) 423.3 + 642.9 = 1066.2 million
[***] 5 Toy Story 3 (2010) 415.0 + 648.2 = 1063.2 million
[***] 6 Alice in Wonderland (2010) 334.2 + 690.1 = 1024.3 million
[***] 7 The Dark Knight (2008) 533.3 + 468.6 = 1001.9 million
[***] 8 Pirates of the ... Tides (2011) 229.1 + 756.1 = 985.2 million
[*2*] 9 Harry Potter and the ... (2001) 317.6 + 657.2 = 974.7 million
[***] 10 Pirates of the ... End (2007) 309.4 + 654.0 = 963.4 million

--- Peter T. Chattaway ------------- http://filmchatblog.blogspot.com/ ---
Nothing tells memories from ordinary moments; only afterwards do they
claim remembrance, on account of their scars. -- Chris Marker, La Jetee