Despite competing with four new releases, the Steve Harvey comedy Think Like a Man held on to the number one spot at the box office, a victory that surprised many industry experts. The film, consisting of a predominantly African American cast, pulled in an additional $18 million over the weekend, bringing its total gross earnings to $60.8 million.
“The movie has already outgrossed a number of successful movies aimed at black audiences, including all but two of Tyler Perry's films,” reports Amy Kaufman of the Los Angeles Times.
New release The Pirates! Band of Misfits ranked second with box office earnings of $11.4 million. The 3D animation film features the voice talent of Hugh Grant, Salma Hayek, Jeremy Piven, Imelda Staunton, and David Tennant.
Third place goes to The Lucky One, starring Zac Efron and Taylor Schilling, while The Hunger Games fell to number four. The films each earned $11 million over the weekend. Though The Hunger Games is moving down the chart, the dystopian drama has earned $372 million and will likely earn millions more before Lionsgate pulls it from the big screen. New release The Five-Year Engagement rounds out the list of top five box office performers with a debut of $11.2 million, a disappointing figure for the Judd Apatow film.
Next up are Safe and The Raven, two new releases that earned $7.7 and $7.2 respectively. Safe is an action thriller starring Jason Statham, while The Raven stars John Cusack, Alice Eve, and Luke Evans. The other top ten performers include Chimpanzee and The Three Stooges, both which earned $5.4 million, and The Cabin in the Woods which brought in $4.5 million.
Friday brings the release of The Avengers, a star-studded superhero film starring Robert Downey, Jr., Chris Evans, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Hemsworth, Scarlett Johansson, Jeremy Renner, Tom Hiddleston, and Samuel L. Jackson, among others. Now I'm no psychic, but with a cast like that I predict the film will do rather well. What do you think?
Box Office Mojo