EARLY WEEKEND BOXOFFICE: “Now You See Me” Makes “After Earth” Disappear

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Things didn’t improve for AFTER EARTH (Sony) on Saturday.  According to preliminary numbers at Deadline, Will Smith’s gift to his son Jaden (and, some say, to the Church of Scientology) increased only a miniscule 3% in its second day of release, and probably won’t top $27M for the weekend.  The caper sleeper NOW YOU SEE ME (Summit/Lionsgate) solidified its lead by rising 10% on Saturday, on its way to what may be a $29M weekend at a fraction of After Earth‘s cost.

The overall #1 for the weekend remained FAST & FURIOUS 6 (Universal), which nevertheless dropped 2/3 of its gross from the 3-day portion of last week’s holiday weekend to about $33M.  THE HANGOVER PART III (Warners) had a similar drop to $15M.  EPIC (20th) held up better, down only about 50%, but its $16M weekend still leaves it in need of major help from overseas release.

STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS (Paramount) dropped another 60% from last weekend for a $15M weekend that’s putting it in position to end up considerably behind its 2009 predecessor in the US, despite mostly strong reviews.  IRON MAN 3 (Disney) was also down 60% to about $8M for the weekend, although when you’re at over $1.1B worldwide, that’s not exactly a problem.  THE GREAT GATSBY (Warners) fell 60% as well, to $5.5M, and with a $275M cost (including marketing), its $140M US total will also leave its studio looking overseas for help.