World War Z Surprises, Monsters University Scores – Biff Bam Pop’s Weekend Box Office Wrap-Up Report

It was an absolutely fantastic weekend at the box office, as two new releases performed incredibly well. Here’s what went down.

We’ll get to number one in a minute, but bucking for our tradition, we’re going to celebrate the second place film this week, as the odds were not looking good for World War Z. Massive rewrites and a huge budget had this film all set up to be a failure, but thanks to strong word of mouth, some surprisingly strong reviews, and star Brad Pitt’s willingness to go out and work for the film, World War Z managed to beat the odds and score a more than solid opening weekend gross of $66 million for second place. This exceeded all expectations (including our own), and bodes well for World War Z’s legs over the next few weeks.

Find out how the rest of the weekend turned out after the jump!
As for the rest of the top five, in comes as no surprise that Pixar’s Monsters University hit the top of the box office, bringing in $81.1 million. As mentioned on Friday, the original was a hit, and Pixar is a brand name that families can trust. Man of Steel fell from first to third, grossing $41 million, a drop of 60%. The film has already made in $209.8 in North America in two weekends, already exceeding 2006’s Superman Returns’ entire gross in the same territory. This Is The End came in fourth with $12.6 million, while Now You See Me closed things out in fifth with $8.1 million.

So, to recap, here were our predictions:

1) Monster University – $80 million
2) Man of Steel – $53 million
3) World War Z – $40 million
4) This Is The End – $12 million
5) Now You See Me – $8.5 million

And here’s how the weekend turned out:

1) Monster University – $81.1 million
2) World War Z – $66 million
3) Man Of Steel – $41 million
4) This Is The End – $12.6 million
5) Now You See Me – $8.1 million

Next weekend sees the release of The Heat and White House Down. Be sure to check back on Friday to see our predictions!