Pixar Animation Studios/Walt Disney Pictures A scene from “Monsters University.â€Cuddly monsters and swarming zombies, both forcibly marketed, dominated North American theaters over the weekend. The animated prequel “Monsters University,†from Disney's Pixar, was No. 1 as expected, taking in an estimated $82 million - an exact match to the opening-weekend total in 2001 (after adjusting for inflation) for “Monsters Inc.,†which ended up taking in $740 million worldwide.
The well-reviewed zombie thriller “World War Z†(Paramount) was second, with estimated ticket sales of $66 million, a spectacular result that validates the studio's much-chronicled decision to rework the movie's ending. But “W orld War Z,†which gave Brad Pitt one of the biggest opening weekend totals of his career, was also exorbitantly expensive, costing Paramount and several financing partners, including the Oracle heir David Ellison, an estimated $190 million to make (after deducting for tax benefits) and at least another $100 million to market globally.
Third place went to “Man of Steel†(Warner), which took in about $41.2 million, for a two-week domestic total of roughly $210 million. Overall, it was a huge weekend for the movie industry: Hollywood.com, which compiles box office data, projected on Sunday morning that total North American ticket sales for the weekend will total $236 million, a 43 percent increase from the same three days last summer.
A version of this article appeared in print on 06/24/2013, on page C3 of the NewYork edition with the headline: Monsters and Zombies Overrun the Box Office.