The Memorial Day weekend box office totals set a record by selling a massive $280 million worth of tickets, but the numbers fell just short of expectations for Kung Fu Panda 2.
Driving the big results was The Hangover Part II. The Warner Bros. comedy was the No. 1 grosser of the weekend, taking in $137 million from its opening on Thursday through the holiday on Monday. That includes a $32 million Thursday opening. Combined with an overseas take of $59 million, the film has a to-date global total of $196 million.
Kung Fu Panda 2 also opened Thursday and landed a distant second despite being on more screens and in stereoscopic 3D. The film took in an estimated $68 million in ticket sales, including a solid $5.8 million on Thursday. The DreamWorks Animation feature took in about $57 million overseas for a five-day total of $125 million.
All of which looks like solid numbers, but when counting attendance Kung Fu Panda 2 fell short of its predecessor, which opened with a $60 million take on a non-holiday weekend. Stereoscopic 3D showings accounted for about 45 percent of the business for Kung Fu Panda 2, a number in line with other recent releases but down from the 60 percent shares common even just a year ago.
Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides slipped to third place with a $50 million weekend, to bring its domestic total to $163 million, while foreign ticket sales reached $470 million for a worldwide total of about $634 million.
Marvel Studios’ Thor slipped to fifth place, with a $12 million weekend. It’s to date earned $162 million domestic and $249 million foreign for a worldwide total of about $411 million.
And Fox’s Blue Sky Studios feature Rio earned $2.4 million in the United States for $135 million domestic and $313 million overseas for a healthy worldwide gross of $449 million.
Also filling out their theatrical runs are Rango ($121 million domestic; $119 million foreign), Hop ($107 million domestic; $64 million foreign) and Hoodwinked Too!: Hood vs. Evil ($9.5 million domestic; $1.9 million foreign).
