In what turned out to be far and away the slowest box office weekend of the year, "Premium Rush" ended up as the top new box office draw with just $6.3 million, not even enough to land in the top five. Meanwhile, documentary "2016 Obama's America" expanded to more than 1,000 venues over the weekend and finished with a surprising $6.2 million, though it doesn't look to have much of a future in theaters. Also getting launched this weekend were "Hit & Run" and "The Apparition," which both struggled to find their audiences and finished with very unimpressive overall numbers. With such paltry figures from the new releases, "The Expendables 2" ended up easily topping the charts with $13.5 million for distributor Lionsgate, pushing its 10-day domestic total to $52 million.
Hitting only 2,255 total venues, action-thriller "Premium Rush" looked to be in the best position of the new releases this weekend, though that didn't actually translate into many ticket sales. Despite having surprisingly strong critical support and star Joseph Gordon-Levitt atop the cast, "Premium Rush" fizzled with its intended demographic, earning less than $3,000 per venue and not even reaching meager studio projections. With a production budget of $35 million, an opening intake of only $6.3 million makes "Premium Rush" a domestic disappointment, though we'll have to wait for the foreign numbers to see its overall box office impact.
Moving forward won't be easy for "Premium Rush" either, as there are a couple of other new releases hitting theaters this week that should take segments of the intended audience. Even if "Premium Rush" benefits from positive word-of-mouth and puts up some decent foreign totals, it will likely end up as one of the most forgettable thrillers of the year.
As "Premium Rush" struggled to find its audience, documentary "2016 Obama's America" did slightly better. Benefiting from a heated presidential campaign, "2016 Obama's America" managed more than $5,000 per venue and hauled in $6.24 million overall, which are decent totals for a limited release that hit theaters in the slowest weekend of the year. It remains to be seen whether "Obama's America" has enough appeal to continue its success moving forward, but so far the numbers are fairly strong for the Rocky Mountain Pictures distribution.
Also competing for audiences over the weekend was R-rated thriller "Hit & Run," starring Bradley Cooper and Kristen Bell. With a production budget of only $2 million, "Hit & Run" proved to be no competition for "Premium Rush" and barely slipped into the top 10 with $4.7 million. "Hit & Run" should see a fairly swift decline over the next few weekends and it should be well out of the top 10 shortly.
Not even making it to the top 10 this weekend was new release "The Apparition," a horror film starring Ashley Greene. With a production budget of $17 million, "The Apparition" was also much more expensive than some of the other bare bones horror films that have hit theaters in recent years, though that didn't help it find much of its intended audience. "The Apparition" ended up with just $2.96 million over the weekend and shouldn't have much of a box office impact moving forward.
As new releases majorly struggled, the door was wide open for "The Expendables 2" to put up another chart-topping weekend for distributor Lionsgate. "The Expendables 2" ended up with a solid $13.5 million over the weekend after dipping 53% from its opening totals, suggesting that it still has a sizable audience left to appeal to. As "The Expendables 2" hits more of its international sites in the coming weekends, look for it to finish its box office run with some decent worldwide figures, setting it up for a third installment in the franchise sometime in the near future.
Hitting theaters this Wednesday, Prohibition-era crime-thriller "Lawless" is in good position to take over the top of the box office charts, with Shia LaBeouf, Jessica Chastain and Tom Hardy starring. From producer Sam Raimi, horror-thriller "The Possession" also will be getting its wide release as will family film "The Oogieloves in the Big Balloon Adventure," though neither one figures to have much of an impact on the box office.
Early Studio Box Office Estimates for 8/24/12 - 8/26/12 (in millions), [RTT Prediction]:
1. The Expendables 2 (Lionsgate): $13.5 [$13.5]
2. The Bourne Legacy (Universal): $9.30 [$8.7]
3. ParaNorman (Focus): $8.55 [$6.8]
4. The Campaign (Warner Brothers): $7.44 [$6.7]
5. The Dark Knight Rises (Warner Brother): $7.15 [$6]
6. The Odd Life of Timothy Green (Disney): $7.13 [$5.9]
7. Premium Rush (Sony/Columbia): $6.30 [$8.8]
8. 2016 Obama's America (Rocky Mountain): $6.24 [N/A]
9. Hope Springs (Sony/Columbia): $6 [$5.8]
10. Hit & Run (Open Road): $4.68 [$6.9]
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June 05, 2026 16:18 ET A busy week for economic news flow saw a slew of reports being released that reflected the trends in the U.S. labor market. In Europe, economic growth and inflation data gained attention as the European Central Bank and Bank of England head for policy session later in the month. In Asia, the monetary policy session of the Indian central bank was in focus as the country, a major oil importer, reels under the pressures of a weaker rupee and rising inflation.