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Risk was much more apparent for our number two film, Tom Cruise’s Oblivion. The Universal release cost $120 million to make, and despite that, chose a pre-summer release date, with the hopes of staying relevant into May. After opening decently last weekend to $37.1 million, that risk was reduced, and with $100 million plus from overseas cinemas, that risk was obliterated. On the domestic side this weekend, Tom Cruise is still facing his popular challenges. Oblivion earned only $17.4 million and dropped 53%, despite no blockbuster competition this weekend. Universal played the worldwide rollout very well from a scheduling standpoint, as they knew Cruise would sell more overseas than domestically, giving it two weekends of room before Iron Man 3 was literally everywhere. Oblivion may approach $100 million domestically, but will likely find $300 million overseas (War of the Worlds did $360 million off-shore). So far, Oblivion has a domestic cume of $64.7 million.

Finishing third is the Jackie Robinson biopic 42, which is now in its third weekend and is already a big success. After a $17.7 million second weekend gross where it dropped a reasonable 36% from its $27.5 million open, the Warner Bros. continues to hold decently. This weekend, the Brian Helgeland flick earned another $10.7 million, and drops an okay 39%. Produced for $40 million, the well-made film has now earned $69.1 million. While $100 million is probably not likely for 42, it will approach that number. Although that potential for $100 million domestically is good news, baseball movies are a tough sell overseas, so it needs to do what it can in North America.

Fourth spot goes to The Big Wedding, but there is little that is big about this one except for names in the cast. Despite starring She-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named (from Grey’s Anatomy and Knocked Up),Robert De Niro, Diane Keaton, Susan Sarandon, Robin Williams, Amanda Seyfried, Robin Williams and Topher Grace, The Big Wedding flopped, grossing only $7.5 million in its opening weekend. Tracking predicted an opening in the low-teens, but audiences likely caught on to the horrible reviews, as The Big Wedding received only four positive reviews out of a possible 60 (that’s 93% awful). Even worse for Millennium Films and Lionsgate is that this one cost more to make at $35 million than Michael Bay’s Pain & Gain (which opened to three times as much). The Big Wedding is DOA and will be lucky to earn $20 million.

The Croods is fifth, and is now six weekends old, which proves we are desperate for the summer movie season to begin. This weekend, The Croods earned another $6.6 million, falling 29% from last weekend’s take. The DreamWorks Animation release has now earned $163 million domestically, and $287 million overseas, all against a $135 million budget.

G.I. Joe: Retaliation is sixth. The wannabe blockbuster earned another $3.6 million and fell 37%. Made for $130 million, the Paramount release won’t match that amount domestically, but the overseas gross will save it. In North America, G.I. Joe: Retaliation has earned $116.4 million; overseas, the amount has crossed the $230 million mark.

Another sign that things are slow at the box office is the fact that Scary Movie 5 finishes seventh. The comedy from the Weinstein Company opened poorly and fell 57% last weekend, yet still ranks okay, despite a gross this weekend of $3.5 million. It dropped 44%, and now the $20 film has a gross of $27.5 million.

Olympus Has Fallen finishes eighth. The Gerard Butler action flick picked up another $2.8 million and declined 38%. The $70 million release has now earned $93.1 million domestically.

The Place Beyond the Pines takes a bit of a hit this weekend despite adding 42 more venues. The Ryan Gosling/Bradley Cooper film earned another $2.7 million this weekend, dropping 45% from last weekend’s $4.9 million performance. The $15 million release has now picked up $16.2 million.

Tenth place goes to Jurassic Park 3D, which hangs around for one last hurrah thanks to several weekends of blah product. It earned $2.3 million, a decline of 43%, which brings its re-release total to $42 million. If you look at its overall domestic total, the film is now approaching the $400 million mark but probably won't quite hit it.

Also worthy of mention is the 11th place finisher, Matthew McConaughey's Mud. On 363 screens, the extremely well-reviewed Southern drama earned $2.2 million for Roadside Attractions, mainly on the strength of buzz about McConaughey's performance. Lately, he's broken away from his typical fare and expanded his horizons to such stuff as Mud, The Paperboy, Killer Joe and Magic Mike, and perceptions about the actor are shifting as a result.

Overall this is a fairly typical pre-summer weekend, as the top 12 films were able to find only $81.3 million. A year ago, Think Like a Man repeated on top as four new releases crashed and burned, with the top 12 pulling in a much better $97.1 million. Everything changes next weekend, as Iron Man 3 arrives, likely opening above $125 million.

Top Weekend Box Office for 4/26/13-4/28/13 (Estimates)
Rank	Film	Distributor	Estimated Gross	Weekly Change	Running Total
1	Pain & Gain	PARAMOUNT	$20,000,000	New	$20,000,000
2	Oblivion	UNIVERSAL	$17,443,200	- 53%	$64,730,700
3	42	WARNER BROS.	$10,725,000	- 39%	$69,079,000
4	The Big Wedding	Lions Gate	$7,500,000	New	$7,500,000
5	The Croods	DreamWorks	$6,600,000	- 29%	$163,024,800
6	G.i. Joe: Retaliation	PARAMOUNT	$3,620,000	- 37%	$116,396,000
7	Scary Movie v	Weinstein Co.	$3,457,000	- 44%	$27,493,936
8	Olympus Has Fallen	Filmdistrict	$2,768,000	- 38%	$93,076,472
9	The Place Beyond the Pines	Focus Features	$2,699,140	- 45%	$16,204,863
10	Jurassic Park 3d	UNIVERSAL	$2,310,000	- 43%	$42,000,375
11	Mud	Roadside Attractions	$2,200,000	New	$2,200,000
12	Evil Dead	SONY	$2,000,000	- 51%	$51,868,000
	Also Opening/Notables
	The Reluctant Fundementalist	IFC Films	$32,000	New	$32,000
	Kon0tiki	Weinstein Co.	$22,334	New	$22,334
	At Any Price	Sony Classics	$16,574	New	$16,574
	Midnight's Children	Paladin/108 Media	$12,200	New	$12,200
	An Oversimplification of Her Beauty	Variance Films	$11,100	New	$11,100
	Graceland	Drafthouse Films	$11,081	New	$11,081
	Storm Surfers 3d	Xlrator Media	$6,500	New	$6,500
	Filly Brown	Lionsgate	$565,000	- 62%	$2,310,091
	Home Run	Samuel Goldwyn	$452,030	- 71%	$2,281,330
	The Lords of Salem	Anchor Bay	$178,000	- 72%	$1,033,000
	In the House	Cohen Media	$31,177	- 11%	$77,357
	The Company You Keep	Sony Classics	$1,245,765	+ 214%	$2,343,910
	Tyler Perry's Temptation	Lionsgate	$1,116,000	- 50%	$50,650,323
	Oz: the Great And Powerful	WALT DISNEY	$1,750,000	- 42%	$226,000,000
Box office data supplied by Exhibitor Relations

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