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These R-rated comedies are sizzling this summer. Bridesmaids opened to a similar $26.2 million nine weekends ago, and has amassed $160 million. Bad Teacher opened to $31.6 million three weekends ago and had a strong weekend this frame despite the opening of Horrible Bosses, and of course Hangover II has mopped up over a half billion worldwide since opening seven weekends ago. These raunchy comedies have become the quick go-to for movie ROI. Bridesmaids cost on $37.5 million to make, and Bad Teacher cost only $20 million. Both of these films are or are going to be $100 million plus earners, with Bridesmaids carrying an opening-to-total multiplier of what will likely be 6.3 – higher than the original Hangover's 6.2. Obviously, these movies are playing as excellent counter-programming versus the effects-laden Hollywood fare, and Horrible Bosses should be no exception, as it goes up against the final Harry Potter next weekend.

Third is Zookeeper, a film I am sorry that parents are getting dragged to this weekend. Kevin James - who I want to like – looks uncomfortable in the marketing, but families didn't mind. America's everyman drew $21 million to the comedy this weekend. I say getting this one over the $20 million mark should be considered a success, and restrict the losses for Sony and MGM. It is a painful 15% fresh at RottenTomatoes, with only ten positive reviews out of a possible 66. It's Garfield all over again – same Tomatometer, same opening weekend gross, and likely a similar domestic gross at $75 million. Considering Zookeeper cost $80 million to make, Sony and MGM will make out just fine once overseas grosses are counted.

In holdover world, Cars 2 is fourth, as it stabilizes a bit before continuing downward against Potter next weekend. The Pixar sequel earned $15.2 million in its third weekend, off 42% compared to last weekend when it dropped 60% against Dark of the Moon. Following last weekend, Cars and its sequel were neck and neck with $117 million following two weekends of business. The sequel now lags after three weekends, as the original had earned $156.7 million, and the sequel has pulled in $148.8 million.

Fifth goes to Bad Teacher, and as mentioned above, the Cameron Diaz film had a decent third weekend. The Sony release earned $9 million in its third frame, off 38%, which improves on the 54% drop the comedy had last weekend. There has never been bad news for this release, as its $20 million budget was easily carried in its first two days of release. Bad Teacher still has a shot at $100 million, as it currently has a total of $78.8 million.

Sixth is Larry Crowne, which seems to have run out of senior citizens to entertain. Larry Crowne earned only $6.3 million, as the Tom Hanks/Julia Roberts dramedy dropped a searing 52%. If there's good news here, its the fact that Larry Crowne cost Hanks only $30 million to make, so it won't be a complete disaster. Give it $26.5 million at the domestic box office so far, with a $35-$40 million finish expected.

Super 8 is seventh this weekend. The JJ Abrams flick took in $4.8 million in its fifth weekend, and dropped 39%. Call it another hit for Spielberg and Abrams, as this one cost $50 million and has already returned $118.1 million at the domestic box office alone.

Monte Carlo is eighth, and has a fair hold considering the target market. The movie with Justin Bieber's girlfriend (I don't know who she is, don't care, and won't look it up) earned $3.1 million in its second weekend and dropped 49%. The $20 million Fox release has now earned $16.1 million. Huzzah.

Ninth is The Green Lantern, and tenth is Mr. Popper's Penguins, two examples of quality film-making for the blind and deaf. Green Lantern earned $3.1 million and dropped 52%, while Penguins earned $2.9 million and dropped 48%. Green Lantern is losing the earnings vs. budget battle, as it has accumulated $109.7 million domestically against a budget of at least $200 million (plus marketing). It has also taken in only $33 million so far overseas. Penguins is not quite a disaster, but it's close. The film has earned $57.7 million domestically against a $55 million production budget.

Overall, the box office this weekend wasn't close to the awesome results put up last year. A year ago, Despicable Me was on top with $56.4 million, followed by Twilight: Eclipse at $31.7 million, Predators at $24.7 million and Toy Story 3 at $21 million. Six titles earned more than $10 million and the top twelve combined for $184 million. This weekend, the top 12 drew only $150.8 million. Next weekend brings Pottermania, and this one is going to be huge.

Top Weekend Box Office for 7/8/11-7/10/11 (Estimates)
Rank	Film	Distributor	Estimated Gross	Weekly Change	Running Total
1	Transformers: Dark of the Moon	Paramount	$47,025,000	-52%	$261,000,000
2	Horrible Bosses	New Line Cinema	$28,110,000	New	$28,110,000
3	Zookeeper	SONY	$21,000,000	New	$21,000,000
4	Cars 2	Walt Disney Pictures	$15,209,000	- 42.1%	$148,828,000
5	Bad Teacher	Sony/Columbia	$9,000,000	- 39.0%	$78,757,000
6	Larry Crowne	Universal	$6,264,480	- 49%	$26,525,765
7	Super 8	Paramount	$4,825,000	- 52%	$118,056,000
8	Monte Carlo	Twentieth Century Fox	$3,800,000	- 49%	$16,124,903
9	Green Lantern	Warner Bros. Pictures	$3,125,000	- 52.3%	$109,709,000
10	Mr. Popper's Penguins	Twentieth Century Fox	$2,850,000	- 49%	$57,746,774
11	Midnight in Paris	Sony Pictures Classics	$2,706,235	- 24%	$38,650,502
12	Bridesmaids	Universal	$2,672,350	- 27%	$158,186,095
	Also Opening/Notables
	Beats, Rhymes & Life: the Travels of a Tribe Called Quest	Sony Classics	$120,016	New	$120,016
	Project Nim	Roadside Attractions	$25,000	New	$25,000
	Sholem Aleichem	Int'l Film Circuit	$18,405	New	$18,405
	Terri		$45,000	- 31%	$145,000
	A Better Life	SUMMIT	$314,000	+221%	$543,254
	Buck	IFC Films	$400,000	-17%	$1,715,000
	The Trip	IFC Films	$120,000	- 25%	$960,000
	X-Men: First Class	Twentieth Century Fox	$1,475,000	- 50.0%	$142,091,737
	Beginners	Focus Features	$543,472	- 9.2%	$3,239,404
	The Hangover: Part II	Warner Bros.	$1,185,000	- 50.5%	$250,804,000
	The Tree of Life	FOX SEARCHLIGHT	$770,000	-28%	$8,990,761
	Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides	WALT DISNEY	$1,087,000	-50%	$236,283,000
Box office data supplied by Exhibitor Relations

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