This weekend two high profile sequels pushed the overall box office to astounding heights, fueling the highest grossing Memorial Day Weekend of all time. Despite tepid reviews from critics, The Hangover Part II from Warner Bros. easily won the weekend leaving Paramount’s Kung Fu Panda 2 in the dust. It seems audiences couldn’t wait to go on another drunken adventure with the Wolf Pack but just weren’t in that great a rush to revisit Po and his ninja friends.     

Warner Bros. The Hangover Part II is performing massively well so far this weekend, collecting an estimated $61.6 million in its first two days of release. Thursday and Friday will likely be the films biggest days at the box office and the film will probably see slim declines throughout the rest of the weekend. Nonetheless, the film is on track to drink up $125 million in ticket sales over its five day debut. This is extremely impressive considering the film is a rated-R comedy without the bells and whistles of 3D and IMAX. 

With two highly anticipated sequels and Captain Jack Sparrow sailing into his second weekend in theatres, this weekend could possibly be the highest grossing Memorial Day weekend of all time. Both Paramount’s PG animated Kung Fu Panda 2 and Warner Bros. R-rated raunchy comedy follow up The Hangover Part II have the potential to make north of $80 million over the four day weekend. Both films open this Thursday for a huge five day launch, giving them plenty of room to maximize their potential. Last Memorial Day weekend was a bit of a disappointment at the box office with both new films, Sex and the City 2 from Warner Bros. and Disney’s Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time opening to underwhelming results. Based on my estimates for the Top 10, the box office will be up an astounding 33.5% from last year and may even edge out the biggest Memorial Day weekend of all time. The current record is from 2007 when Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End powered the overall Top 10 over the Friday to Sunday period to a towering $205.6 million. 

This weekend Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides easily sailed to the top of the charts, experiencing the biggest opening of the year so far. Captain Jack and friends had plenty of breathing room as no new films opened outside of it, although Paramount’s Thor stole some of its thunder as did Universal’s Fast Five. Those two films ate up about $26 million worth of ticket sales that potentially could’ve translated into tickets sold for Pirates. Universal’s comedy Bridesmaids held strong in its second weekend, slipping only 20% from last weekend’s debut and establishing itself as the summer movie season’s first sleeper hit. Bridesmaids will have a rough time this weekend competing with Warner Bros. The Hangover Part II and Paramount’s Kung Fu Panda 2, but the terrific word of mouth may help it survive the weekend relatively unscathed. 

It is no surprise that the latest Pirates of the Caribbean movie, On Stranger Tides is debuting on top of the charts, but it looks like the film is falling short of most industry expectations. Most analysts had the film opening between $92 million and $98 million with Disney anticipating an opening north of $100 million. Unfortunately, the ship has taken on too much water and it is beginning to sink. Pirates made an estimated $35 million on Friday (including Thursday midnight) and will likely end the weekend with about $85 million. Still a great debut, but the film is off about 25% from the opening of 2007’s At World’s End. This is fairly alarming considering average ticket prices have increased substantially over the last four years, especially when premium tickets for 3D and IMAX showings are being sold as well.   

Captain Jack Sparrow has the weekend all to himself as Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides is the only new film opening this weekend. Although it is the only new film setting sail this weekend, Pirates will have to face off with summer blockbusters Thor from Paramount and Universal’s high-octane sequel Fast Five. Although last weekend’s Bridesmaids from Universal and Thor opened to admirable results, the overall Top 10 was down the last two weekends in comparison to last year. Pirates of the Caribbean should set things back on track this weekend. Based on my estimates the overall Top 10 should be up about 8.4% from this time last year. 

This weekend, Paramount’s Thor stayed on top of the charts, experiencing a slim decline of only 48% from last weekend. Universal’s Bridesmaids had a strong debut in second place while Priest from Sony Screen Gems faltered in fourth place. Holdovers Fast Five and Rio both held up very nicely this weekend and helped the overall Top 10 come within striking distance of last year’s Top 10 total. The Top 10 collected an estimated $123.3 million, down only 4.6% from last year when Iron Man 2 led the way to a Top 10 total of $129.2 million. Although the summer movie season is off to a strong start, the first two “official” weekends have been down in comparison to last year, but the next few weekends should see an increase over 2010. This weekend Disney releases potential blockbuster Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides followed six days later by hotly anticipated sequels The Hangover Part II and Kung Fu Panda 2.   

To no one’s surprise, Paramount/Marvel Studios Thor will firmly remain in first place for the weekend. The film should drop about 50% from last weekend’s solid debut, quite good for a summer popcorn flick. Generally a film like this would drop closer to 60% in its second weekend. Universal’s Bridesmaids is off to a solid start, grossing just under $8 million on Friday and will easily beat fellow newcomer Priest for second place. Stellar reviews from critics have helped propel Bridesmaids to a strong debut and the film may have good legs in the weeks to come. Although heavy comedy competition will be arriving two weeks from now with the release of The Hangover Part II. Sony Screen Gems Priest is faltering in fourth place for the weekend. The 3D horror action hybrid collected only $5.5 million on Friday and couldn’t overcome terrible reviews from critics and steep competition from Thor and Fast Five. 

The summer movie season got off to great start with the release of Universal’s Fast Five and Paramount’s Thor, but the momentum built up by these films is going to be lost with the release of this weekend’s films. Universal releases the female version of The Hangover, Bridesmaids starring Kristen Wiig while Sony Screen Gems counters with 3D action horror hybrid, Priest starring Paul Bettany. Both of these films are probably looking at openings in the high teens and it should be a tight race for second place. Marvel Studio’s Thor will easily take the top spot for the second weekend in a row and depending on how the new films perform, Fast Five may pull an upset and land in the runner-up position once again. Based on FilmGo.net’s estimates for the Top 10, the overall box office should be down about 13.4% for the frame in comparison to last year. The box office should regain some steam next weekend however with the release of Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides. 

This weekend, Paramount’s Thor officially kicked off the summer movie season. The latest Marvel superhero to hit the big screen had a strong debut thanks to incredibly strong reviews from critics and a strong fanbase that was anxiously awaiting Thor’s release. Two wedding themed romantic comedies opened this weekend as well to serve as counter-programming to the testosterone laced Thor, both of which performed pretty well. Warner Bros. Something Borrowed starring Ginnifer Goodwin and Kate Hudson met most industry expectations while Sony’s Jumping the Broom opened stronger than expected.