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Finishing third this weekend is Planes, which looks like it’s from Pixar, but is actually from Disney’s direct-to-video division. If that’s not bait and switch, I don’t what is. Parents were fooled into thinking this was a quality release from Pixar, and the cartoon earned $22.5 million from 3,702 locations this weekend. While Disney did sell a lot of tickets, Planes was also the worst reviewed release of the lot of four (25% fresh). This critical thrashing could damage the brand. The Pixar brand that started with cars and now has expanded to planes has brought Disney $3.5 billion worth of ticket sales over the years, so in my mind, this franchise should be the golden fleece they want to protect. Now that Disney has Marvel and Star Wars, maybe they feel they can move away from their core business. Disney may make big money from Planes (it supposedly cost $50 million) but in the long run, this is not a good move.

Fourth is Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters, the other film that opened on Wednesday. The Fox release got started with an okay $5.5 million start on Wednesday, but has been shrinking since. On Thursday, Percy Jackson earned only $3.4 million before increasing on Friday to $4.9 million, but that number was still behind the opening day tally from Wednesday. Over the Friday-to-Sunday portion of the weekend, Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters earned $14.6 million from 3,031 venues, and $23.5 million since opening mid-week. This is an okay debut for a film that was never going to do much. The original opened to $31.2 million over a February weekend, and was completely forgotten domestically, as it finished with $88.8 million. It did earn $138 million overseas, which is likely the reason for the sequel. I see a less promising result coming domestically, especially with Mortal Instruments not that far off. The sequel cost Fox $90 million to bring to the screen ($5 million less than the original).

Fifth is 2 Guns, which got hammered by all the new product. After opening to $27.1 million last weekend, the Denzel Washington/Mark Wahlberg starrer fell a nasty 59% to $11.1 million this weekend. Given that 2 Guns cost only $61 million to make, Universal will make out just fine here, as it has a gross so far of $48.5 million, and it will get to $65 million at least, before matching that amount abroad.

Sixth is The Smurfs 2, which holds better than 2 Guns. Smurfs 2 earned $9.5 million in its second weekend, declining 46%. The Sony release cost $105 million to make, and will likely earn $65 million domestically and $150 million overseas. The best news is that with four more new films next weekend, these Smurfs may be out of my hair quite quickly. The Smurfs 2 has earned $46.6 million at the domestic box office so far.

Seventh is The Wolverine, and after a 60% plunge last weekend, it continues its freefall, despite its $120 million budget. Wolverine earned only $8 million, dropping 62% in weekend three. The Wolverine opened to $53 million, fell to $21.3 million, and is already bottoming out. Overseas it is finding a lot more success, with a total of $194 million.

Eighth is The Conjuring, and we are finally starting to see this one start to break down. Warner Bros. dropped the screen count for the horror flick by about 500 this weekend, and The Conjuring fell 49% to $6.7 million. It’s all good news for this one, though, as the $20 million release has brought its domestic cume up to $120.7 million.

Ninth is Despicable Me 2, which also loses a massive number of screens. Moving from 3,207 venues last weekend to 2,395 this weekend, the minion sequel could only find $5.7 million as it fell 43%. It is still moving toward the biggest releases ever for Universal, as it has earned $338.3 million domestically, only a few million behind E.T. and Jurassic Park, which topped out at $359 and $357 million during their first runs at the domestic box office.

Finally in tenth is Grown Ups 2, as Adam Sandler and his gang of friends hang around in the top ten for one final weekend. The comedy managed to take in another $3.7 million, good for a decline of 53%. Considering how little effort it took to make this movie happen, Sony has to be pretty thrilled that it has earned $123.8 million at the domestic box office so far.

Overall this weekend, the box office remains hot as none of the four openers hit the dirt this weekend. The top 12 films grossed $143.7 million, which is ahead of last year, when The Bourne Legacy led the top 12 to $133 million. Next weekend brings another basket of releases to theaters. Openers include Jobs, Kick-Ass 2, Paranoia, and Lee Daniels’ The Butler.

Top Weekend Box Office for 8/9/13-8/11/13 (Estimates)
Rank	Film	Distributor	Estimated Gross	Weekly Change	Running Total
1	Elysium	Sony/Columbia	$30,500,000	New	$30,500,000
2	We're the Millers	New Line Cinema	$26,555,000	New	$38,044,000
3	Planes	DISNEY	$22,525,000	New	$22,525,000
4	Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters	Fox	$14,600,000	New	$23,457,100
5	2 Guns	Universal	$11,127,900	- 59%	$48,516,805
6	The Smurfs 2	SONY	$9,500,000	- 46%	$46,600,000
7	The Wolverine	Fox	$8,000,000	- 62%	$111,986,200
8	The Conjuring	WARNER BROS.	$6,700,000	- 49%	$120,745,000
9	Despicable Me 2	UNIVERSAL	$5,748,000	- 43%	$338,314,195
10	Grown Ups 2	SONY	$3,700,000	- 53%	$123,800,000
11	Blue Jasmine	Sony Classics	$2,523,355	- 36%	$6,219,194
12	Turbo	Fox	$2,250,000	- 64%	$75,020,000
	Also Opening/Notables
	Chennai Express	Utv	$2,225,000	New	$2,475,000
	Lovelace	Radius/weinstein	$184,176	New	$184,176
	In a World…	Roadside Attractions	$75,000	New	$75,000
	Snake And Mongoose	Rocky Mountain Pictures	$21,000	New	$21,000
	The Spectacular Now	A24	$266,119	+ 35%	$534,222
	Europa Report	Magnolia	$30,000	+ 35%	$60,000
	The Artist And the Model	Cohen Media	$19,224	+ 14%	$45,938
	Red 2	Lionsgate	$2,030,000	- 63%	$49,441,222
	Blackfish	Magnolia	$250,000	- 7%	$1,050,000
	Pacific Rim	WARNER BROS.	$1,540,000	- 66%	$96,770,000
	Fruitvale Station	Weinstein Co.	$1,443,000	- 44%	$13,490,660
	The Way, Way Back	FOX SEARCHLIGHT	$1,500,000	- 45%	$16,320,200
	The Heat	Fox	$2,000,000	- 57%	$153,615,900
Box office data supplied by Exhibitor Relations

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