It was sequel vs sequel this weekend but it was the Chinese crime thriller that came out on top. Overheard 2 battled Final Destination 5 and Larry Crowne and successfully defended against those Apes to snag this weekend by a fairly wide margin. Actuals are likely to place this above the 1m range as moviegoers turned out to catch the most anticipated Chinese movie of the summer. It improved on the original's opening weekend by at least 46% and will definitely finish with more than the original's gross of just less than 2m. Recapping its weekend, it started off slow on Thursday with only 18,374 admissions but Thursday's actuals put its gross at a magnificent $154,000. Friday saw it bounce up 44% with about 8,000 more admissions than Thursday. It followed that up with an unbelievable Saturday, surging 94% and almost doubling its Friday admissions. The Friday-Saturday increase in admissions stands as the best of the summer percentage wise for a big release on top, and the Friday and Saturday increases are tops for biggest gains for a movie of the summer. Sunday saw another 9% uptick even without the night shows to boost its weekend total to over 150,000 admissions. It played well with night crowds as well as weekend afternoons/nights though morning shows took a slight dive in ticket sales. It capped off a splendid weekend that is surely going to carry over in the following weeks. Overheard 2 also managed to close the gap between itself and Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes' opening weekend admissions with each day.

Opening weekend admissions for Overheard 2 and Rise of the Planet of the Apes.

It got thoroughly beaten on Thursday but really started to pour it on with Saturday's and Sunday's admissions. This weekend could generate anywhere from $900,000-$1,300,000 but is headed towards a similar opening like Apes last week with around 1.1m. Weekdays have looked decent so far with it doing strong business at night. Depending on actuals, Overheard 2 will cross 2m sometime next week and has a chance at 3m.

Rise of the Planet of the Apes used its good WOM to slide just 40% in its 2nd weekend. Although falling 58% in admissions on Thursday, with Thursday actuals, it only fell 45% in gross. Good drops followed on Friday, Saturday and Sunday as it saw its two best days on Saturday falling around 33% on both days. The 3 new releases did not play a big factor as WOM spread that led people to watch this in theaters. It is tracking well ahead of Captain America and has already passed the 2m mark. It should be over 2.2m after this weekend and 3m is now a lock. A 37% decline would give it $670,000 for the weekend and 2.28m in 11 days. Just how high it will go all starts with next weekend as 6 new releases look for screens and will cut into Apes' showtimes.

Final Destination 5 started out its OS campaign with a less potent opening weekend than The Final Destination. While that grossed over $750,000 in September, this had to deal with much tougher competition and will decrease at least 25% from FD4's OW. It started off poor on Thursday with less than 9,000 admissions but stayed flat on Friday. It had a solid 53% increase on Saturday and saw in uptick in admissions on Sunday, rising 2% from Saturday. All things considered, it was just an OK opening that didn't surprise nor disappointment. Mixed WOM from the previous film may have played a factor in the smaller OW. Weekend should come in at about $525,000. It is looking a total between $900,000-1,100,000 as many new releases come out next week which will accelerate Final Destination 5's rapid decline and cut its run short.

Cars 2 continued its disappointing run after posting a 50% drop in admissions over the weekend. Weekdays for it were very weak as it fell a whopping 67% on Thursday but pulled it back slightly on Friday with a 59% decline. Saturday and Sunday saw better declines as it fell below 50% both days highlighted by a 37% fall on Sunday. It will cross 2m on Monday or Tuesday but 3m is looking unlikely now. A 46% drop in gross would give it around $460,000 for the weekend and a 1.93m total so far.

Larry Crowne tried to bank on its two leads but the weekend never materialized enough to jumpstart any momentum and it only finished with 42,000 admissions. Blame can be partially laid on the number of romantic comedies released this summer (about 7 or 8) and the general fatigue surrounding them. Still, it may end up finishing with more than any of them opening weekend but for two recognizable leads to just barely win the opening weekend race between romantic comedies is not an achievement. This is looking at about a $240,000 start and more than $600,000 total.

The Smurfs survived the new releases and had another good weekend. It may even sneak back into the top 5 in gross if Larry Crowne is overestimated or if it's underestimated. -50% would give it about a $200,000 weekend and would carry it up to 1.8m. 2.1m-2.2m is looking good as its final total.