Even with some major new competition from both "After Earth" and "Now You See Me," "Fast & Furious 6" is in great shape to finish as the number one movie at the box office for a second straight weekend, bringing it to close to $200 million domestically in the process. M. Night Shyamalan's sci-fi epic "After Earth" stands the best chance of knocking "Fast & Furious 6" out of the top spot, though minimal buzz and plenty of competition will make it hard to find an audience, even with Will Smith as the headliner. Crime-thriller "Now You See Me" will also be looking to find an audience, though a 2,800-theater release suggests a limited opening for the Lionsgate/Summit distribution.
When M. Night Shyamalan turned into a household name following his 1999 thriller "The Sixth Sense," he quickly became one of the leading commercial directors of the time. On a budget of just $40 million, "The Sixth Sense" racked up an eye-popping $293 million in the U.S. alone, which is more than $450 million when adjusted for inflation. Including foreign revenue, "The Sixth Sense" earned a 2013-equivalent of roughly $1 billion worldwide, making it one of the most commercially successful films of the decade and launching Shyamalan's career. Even though Shyamalan never made it back to that level from a box office standpoint, he has released a steady stream of mainstream hits ever since; even poorly received releases like "The Village" and "The Happening" were still overall commercial successes, benefiting from a large international audience.
This time around, Shyamalan is back with a PG-13 sci-fi epic that is taking aim at a very large mainstream audience, which could turn out to be very difficult considering the intense competition already in theaters. But even though "Fast & Furious 6," "Star Trek" and "Now You See Me" will all detract from the opening potential of "After Earth," it also does have some major star power in Will and Jaden Smith, giving it some added international appeal. Expect "After Earth" to post a modest opening of less than $40 million in the U.S. but to have some significant success worldwide thanks to the clout of both Shyamalan and the father-son Smith duo.
Also hitting theaters this weekend is crime-thriller "Now You See Me," starring Jesse Eisenberg, Isla Fisher and Morgan Freeman. At less than 3,000 total theaters, "Now You See Me" is on the smaller side compared with most mainstream summer releases, suggesting that it doesn't have much of a chance to compete with the big-budget action films that have been dominating the box office in recent weeks. Look for PG-13 "Now You See Me" to earn somewhere close to $20 million this weekend and to struggle finding audiences throughout the month of June.
But even though there are two new wide releases this weekend, "Fast & Furious 6" should still have enough of an audience to edge "After Earth" and remain the number one movie in the U.S. "Fast & Furious 6" put up an enormous $117 million opening total including Memorial Day, putting it on pace to be far and away the top grossing film in the popular action franchise. With big numbers outside of the U.S as well, "Fast & Furious 6" is already up past $300 million worldwide and appears to be a shoe-in to cross $500 million around the globe as well. Even with a sizable dip of close to 60% from its three-day opening of $97 million, "Fast & Furious 6" should have enough audience support to rack up nearly $40 million this weekend and again top the box office.
Next weekend, Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson's PG-13 screwball comedy "The Internship" will give audiences a break from the steady stream of big-budget action releases as it tries to conjure up the box office magic of "Wedding Crashers." R-rated horror-thriller "The Purge" will also hit theaters next weekend, with Ethan Hawke and Lena Headey co-starring in the Universal distribution.
RTT Box Office Predictions for 5/31/13 - 6/2/13 (in millions):
1) Fast & Furious 6 (Universal): $43
2) After Earth (Sony/Columbia): $37
3) Now You See Me (Lionsgate/Summit): $21
4) The Hangover III (Warner Bros.): $20
5) Star Trek Into Darkness (Paramount): $19.5
6) Epic (Fox): $18
7) Iron Man 3 (Disney): $10.5
8) The Great Gatsby (Warner Brothers): $6.8
9) Mud (Roadside Attractions): $1.3
10) 42 (Warner Brothers): $0.78
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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.