Monsters University Wins Box Office, ‘The Heat’ Surprises Analysts With $40 Million

Monsters University once again won the Hollywood box office this weekend with $46.2 million, but it was Melissa McCarthy’s The Heat which wowed analysts.

The Heat managed to beat out the Channing Tatum and Jamie Foxx vehicle White House Down by racking up $40 million.

Monsters University took the top spot but watched as its week-over-week take fell by 44 percent.

McCarthy has been on a hot streak since 2011 when Bridesmaids took in $169 million domestically. The comedic actress then surprised analysts when her film Identity Thief took in $135 million.

The Heat stars Melissa McCarthy and Sandra Bullock in buddy cop roles. According to Davd Karger of movie ticket retailer Fandango:

“The marketing for The Heat has done a terrific job in emphasizing the movie’s greatest appeal: the incessant and often hilarious banter between Sandra Bullock and Melissa McCarthy.”

The Heat may have also benefited by turning the buddy cop genre on its head by featuring two female leads. Traditionally, buddy cop flicks feature two male police officers.

The movie also benefited from decent reviews from critics and fans. Two-thirds of critics recommended the movie, and 78 percent of respondents on Rotten Tomatoes said they recommend seeing the film.

White House Down, in the meantime, took in $25.7 million for a fourth place finish on the week. Analysts had expected the movie to make an additional $6 million however only 50 percent of critics gave the movie praise and only 73 percent of viewers have recommended the film.

In third place was the Brad Pitt-starring film World War Z, which raked in $29.8 million. Behind White House Down, the film Man of Steel took in $20.8 million.

While final numbers won’t be released until Monday, we now know that box office sales are only down by two percent from the same period last year. Before the recent slew of big box office movies were released, box office numbers were down by the double digits.