Box Office Report: Fast & Furious 6 Leads Record-Breaking Memorial Day Weekend

WINNER OF THE WEEK:Fast & Furious 6. Still going strong after 12 years and five sequels, the street-racing saga easily drove off with the box office crown this holiday weekend. According to studio estimates, it fell just $1.5 million shy of speeding past $100 million during its first three days; over the full Memorial Day holiday, its expected to earn $122.2 million. Its an especially impressive feat given how crowded the multiplex is with blockbusters right now. Credit the movie for the multi-ethnic appeal of its cast, which also helpedFast 6gross $177 million overseas, for a worldwide total so far of $275.5 million. Also credit the film for delighting longtime fans by delivering exactly what it promises. With an A grade from CinemaScore, word-of-mouth is very strong.

Then again, nearly every major release did well this weekend, for a total estimated domestic box office of $315 million throughMonday. Thats a Memorial Day weekend record, surpassing the $296 million earned during the holiday two years ago. Last weeks champ,Star Trek Into Darkness, held up well with an estimated $38.0 million over three days (good for third place) and a likely $48.0 million through Monday.Also staying strong wasIron Man 3(fifth place), with aFriday-to-Sundayestimate of $19.4 million and a full holiday estimate of $24.6 million. After four weeks, its approaching $400 million, with $367.5 million earned throughSunday

Summer Movie Preview 2013

In this environment, new family cartoonEpicdid even better than expected, opening in fourth place with an estimated $34.2 million throughSundayand a likely $44.0 million by the end of the holiday. Its the first major animated family film sinceThe Croodsopened 10 weeks ago, so the marketplace was hungry.

LOSER OF THE WEEK:The Hangover Part III. Months ago, the head-to-head opening ofFast 6andHangover IIIlooked like an evenly-matched sausage-fest showdown. But it wasnt even close.Hangoveropened in second place, but with just an estimated $42.4 million over three days, meaning perhaps $51 million byMonday. Its take throughSundayis about half of the three-day debut logged byThe Hangover Part II($86.0 million) two years ago. Of course, that secondHangoversquandered most of the goodwill earned by the first, and even though this final installment promised to change gears, it still earned a B from CinemaScore, indicating just so-so word-of-mouth. EvenEpicmanaged to steal some of its thunder.

MIDNIGHT MOVIE By one measure, the most eagerly awaited sequel of the weekend wasBeforeMidnight, the third in the every-nine-years series of glimpses into the transatlantic romance of Jesse (Ethan Hawke) and Celine (Julie Delpy). It opened on just five screens but earned an estimated $274,000 fromFridaytoSunday, for a per-screen average of $54,800. Thats by far the highest per-screen average of any movie this week; Fast 6 earned about half that per venue ($26,935). Also opening strong in limited release were Israeli Oscar entryFill the Void($60,400 on three screens), documentaryWe Steal Secrets: The Story of Wikileaks($29,000 on four screens), andA Pig Across Paris($10,000 at one venue).