As expected Monsters University topped the US box office, taking a strong $82 million in its first three days. That’s marks Pixar’s 14th straight film to top the box office, and it’s their second highest debut ever, behind only Toy Story 3. The film is also likely to hold up well in the coming weeks, becoming yet another big hit for the studio.
While everyone had expected Monsters University to do well, there were big question marks over World War Z, due to its troubled production history and mixed reviews. In the end it’s ended up doing surprisingly well too, taking $66 million.
That’s a great start for a film some were predicting would be the flop of the summer, and indeed one of the best starts ever for a disaster film. And according to BoxOfficeMojo figures, its already the fourth highest grossing zombie film ever! Add in another $100 million from its international opening, and Paramount is well on the way to making back its $200 million budget. Indeed, there’s already talk that they’re now moving forward with the planned sequels.
Take a look below for the US box office top 10 for the weekend of June 21st-23rd.
| Rank | Title | Weekend Gross (millions) | Total Gross to date (millions) |
| 1 | Monsters University | $82.0 | $82.0 |
| 2 | World War Z | $66.0 | $66.0 |
| 3 | Man Of Steel | $41.2 | $210.0 |
| 4 | This Is The End | $13.0 | $5.7.7 |
| 5 | Now You See Me | $7.8 | $94.4 |
| 6 | Fast & Furious 6 | $4.6 | $228.4 |
| 7 | The Internship | $3.4 | $38.3 |
| 8 | The Purge | $3.4 | $59.4 |
| 9 | Star Trek Into Darkness | $3.0 | $216.6 |
| 10 | Iron Man 3 | $2.1 | $401.1 |
Warner/DC executives must have been nervous in the last few weeks, as they’d spent over $225 million on Man Of Steel, with the hope it would kick off an entire DC universe. They’ll be breathing a sigh on release as the movie has taken $125 million in its first four days, which is a June record at the US box office.
Box office watchers had been expecting The Internship to disappoint at the box office due to soft tracking, but few had thought The Purge would do as well as it did. While there were already rumbling it might have a chance of topping the box office, in the end it not only took the number one spot but did so with style, taking $36 million.