‘Elysium’ On Top Of Very Busy Box Office Weekend

One of the busiest weekends at the box office in recent times shows Elysium is taking top spot with $11.1 million on Saturday.

The crowded field has Jennifer Aniston’s R-rated comedy We’re The Millers in second place with $8.5 million on Saturday, in third place we have the Disney animated film Planes with $7.3 million, and Percy Jackson: Sea Of Monsters rounds up the top four with $5.2 million.

On Friday Planes was on Elysium’s tale and Disney was banking on families to visit the theater for matinees, but instead the public flocked to We’re The Millers.

Even with the good numbers it looks like Aniston’s and Jason Sudeikis foul mouthed film will come on top with an estimate of $37.2 million for the weekend according to Deadline.

Elysium comes short of its own estimates with $30 million compared to the projected $35 million.

Any of these movies could have done better if not for the simultaneous opening dates, but as it stands they are attracting different segments of the viewing public.

Elysium is seen as a guy movie, Millers is targeting women, but Aniston is always attractive to men, and with her much publicized strip-tease it is likely that guys will give it a try, Planes is clearly a kids/family oriented film, and Percy Jackson is targeted towards teens and pre-teens.

Elysium has been received with mixed reviews, but it may be suffering from so-called “summer movie fatigue” as the market has been overcrowded with action flicks in 2013.

Some fear that it may not break $30 million and Deadline has word from the studio that they are banking on the foreign market, especially Russia which they consider “huge” for them

Neill Blomkamp’s previous flick, District 9 (which was produced by Peter Jackson), did much better at the box office with $37.4 million in mid-August 2009, with a grand total of $210.8 million worldwide.

Sony Studios is under pressure to have a good showing from hedge fund manager and studio investor Daniel Loeb, after less than stellar showings for After Earth and White House Down.

Elysium had a $115 million budget and received a B Cinemascore from moviegoers.