Two new movies, Michael Bay’s “Pain & Gain†and the star-studded romantic comedy “The Big Wedding,†left audiences underwhelmed â€" both pictures received a C-plus score in exit polls â€" as an overall North American box-office slump continued over the weekend.
“Pain & Gain†(Paramount), produced for $26 million as part of an I-can-make-small-movies-too mission by Mr. Bay, was No. 1, taking in about $20 million, according to Hollywood.com, which compiles ticketing data. Tom Cruise’s “Oblivion†(Universal) was second, with an estimated $17.4 million in ticket sales, for a two-week total of $64.7 million. “42†(Warner) continued to perform well in third place, selling about $10.7 million in tickets, for a three-week total of $69.1 million. The fourth spot went to “The Big Wedding†(Lionsgate), with about $7.5 million in sales; starring Robert De Niro, Diane Keaton, Amanda Seyfried and others, it cost about $35 million to make. “The Croods†(20th Century Fox) was fifth, taking in $6.6 million, for a six-week total of about $163 million.
For the weekend, total box-office revenue in the United States and Canada was an estimated $110.5 million, an 18.5 percent decline from the same weekend last year. Hollywood is counting on the arrival of “Iron Man 3†on Friday to jump start ticket sales â€" a safe bet considering that the movie has already generated superheroic sales of $195.3 million in limited release overseas.
