Weekend Box Office King is '2 Guns,' But 'Smurfs 2' Rules Overseas
The weekend box office winner was "2 Guns," the action comedy starring Denzel Washington and Mark Wahlberg, and although critics gave it decent reviews, audiences seemed to really like it. Coming up after the star power of "2 Guns" was "The Wolverine," but "Smurfs 2" seemed to have a very popular showing with foreign audiences overseas.
The weekend box office was topped by "2 Guns" haul of $27.4 million, the studio estimated Sunday. The film was directed by Iceland filmmaker Baltasar Kormakur and featured Washington and Wahlberg together for the first time.
"It was super casting. There was remarkable chemistry," Nikki Rocco, Universal's head of distribution, told the Associated Press. "The two of them work so well together. You see it on screen. Baltasar really gave them the energy to be able to do what they did in this film."
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The star power of the cast also contributed significantly to the sales of the film. African-Americans made up 28 percent of the audiences while Hispanics made up 14 percent, according to TheWrap.com.
"That's Denzel," said Rocco.
Reviews were somewhat favorable as well, with the "predictable story beats" and "beyond ridiculous" plot being outweighed by the strength of the "Wahlberg/Washington bromance," which made a "charismatic team" on set. Critics gave the buddy cop flick a 58 percent on RottenTomatoes, but 75 percent of moviegoers liked the film.
"The Wolverine" managed to stay in the top three movies in its second weekend, bringing in $21.7 million. Though "The Smurfs 2" managed to squeeze into third with $18.2 million this weekend domestically, but managed to win big in 43 overseas markets with $52.5 million.
The first "Smurfs" made $420 million worldwide, and the sequel is expected to top that. This summer it is competing with several other family movies like "Despicable Me 2," "Turbo" and "Planes," the "Cars" spin-off that will be released soon.
"We're a little disappointed in the domestic numbers, but there is a lot of PG DNA in the market right now, and $80 million is a great worldwide number," Sony's distribution chief Rory Bruer told TheWrap.
