Even with a production budget of just $3 million and a relatively small release of only 2,536 theaters, "The Purge" hit a home run with thrill-seeking audiences over the weekend, earning a spectacular $36 million according to early studio estimates. While "The Purge" easily found its target audience, "The Internship" struggled to make much of an impact in theaters, as the Vince Vaughn/Owen Wilson collaboration managed a mild opening of $18.10 million. "After Earth" also continued its plummet by dropping nearly 60% from its weak opening, and "The Great Gatsby" likely wrapped up its stint in the box office top 10 with another impressive weekend, bringing its domestic total to $136 million and counting.
Though horror-thrillers have a long history of finding mainstream audiences, they've become one of the easiest ways for studios to turn a bare bones production budget into some big-time box office dollars. This weekend, "The Purge" was the latest thriller to jump on the bandwagon, as the Universal release racked up more than $14,000 per venue and blew away the competition, grossing far more than the other big-budget releases that have been near the top of the charts. With $36 million in opening revenue, "The Purge" is the only 2013 release to earn at least $35 million opening weekend with a production budget of less than $100 million, making it nothing short of a box office phenomenon considering its limited funding.
Though "The Purge" won't likely have the long-term box office success of some of the big-budget movies that benefit from stronger marketing pushes, it has also clearly struck a chord with thrill-seeking audiences. "The Purge" will lose some of its audience this weekend to "Man of Steel," but it should still put together two or three more decent weekends to end up as one of the most profitable low-budget releases of the entire year.
Aiming at a mostly different audience was "The Internship," a PG-13 comedy starring Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson. But while Vaughn/Wilson release "Wedding Crashers" became one of the highest grossing comedies ever, the duo was only able to drum up a fraction of the interest in "The Internship" this weekend despite a lack of comedy competition. With a fairly high production budget of $58 million, "The Internship" managed a so-so $5,377 per venue, suggesting that it doesn't have much of a future moving forward with increased genre competition looming. Expect "The Internship" to get swept aside this week with the opening of "This is the End," which hits theaters this Wednesday amidst some surprisingly strong critical buzz.
Though "The Internship" struggled to find its audience, Will Smith-starring sci-fi adventure "After Earth" is plummeting down the charts following its meager opening a week ago. After dipping 59% from opening weekend, "After Earth" managed a 10-day domestic total of only $46 million - an incredibly low figure for a $130 million production starring Will Smith. "After Earth" will find some revenue outside of the U.S. over the next month, though it still has yet to break $100 million worldwide and is now firmly in the running for biggest box office bust of the summer.
With "After Earth" in freefall, both "Star Trek Into Darkness" and "The Great Gatsby" continued their success with their target audiences this weekend. Even if "Star Trek" looks to be coming in well below industry expectations, small dips from weekend to weekend suggest that the audience is still on board for the franchise and it is now up over $200 million in the U.S. "Star Trek" will probably take a hit with the upcoming release of "Man of Steel," though it could hang around the top 10 for a few more weekends.
Meanwhile, "The Great Gatsby" probably enjoyed its last appearance on the top 10 over the weekend, as the Leonardo DiCaprio starring drama seems to be wrapping up an impressive run at the box office. "Gatsby" has now made a very strong $136 million domestically and $278 million worldwide after its fifth weekend, continuing DiCaprio's string of box office hits and helping director Baz Luhrmann rebound from "Australia" in the process.
Next weekend, Zack Snyder's big-budget Superman reboot "Man of Steel" hits theaters with enormous expectations from distributor Warner Brothers, with an all-star cast that includes Russell Crowe, Amy Adams, Kevin Costner and relative newcomer Henry Cavill. "This is the End" also is hitting theaters on June 12th, bringing an all-star comedic lineup that includes Seth Rogen, Jonah Hill, James Franco, Michael Cera and Danny McBride.
Early Studio Box Office Estimates for 6/7/13 - 6/9/13 (in millions), [RTT Prediction]:
1) The Purge (Universal): $36.38 [$16.8]
2) Fast & Furious 6 (Universal): $19.76 [$16.5]
3) Now You See Me (Lionsgate/Summit): $19.50 [$14.5]
4) The Internship (Fox): $18.10 [$22]
5) Epic (Fox): $12.10 [$9]
6) Star Trek Into Darkness (Paramount): $11.70 [$9.4]
7) After Earth (Sony/Columbia): $11.20 [$13]
8) The Hangover III (Warner Brothers): $7.38 [$7.8]
9) Iron Man 3 (Disney): $5.79 [$4]
10) The Great Gatsby (Warner Brothers): $4.23 [$3.4]
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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.