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Weekend Box Office: First Avenger Takes First Place

By InCinemas / 25 Jul 2011 (Monday)

Source: Cinemablend

Hero power topped Harry Potter this weekend. Captain America: The First Avenger made a solid debut at number one with $65 million. While that's a respectable opening, it's nothing to get excited about. According to rankings at Box Office Mojo it's only the 48th largest opening for a comic book adapted film.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 2 slipped a hefty 70% from its record breaking opening weekend (most movies drop 50% - 60%). That sort of rapid drop off is a common trend for Potter flicks, but no other entry in the franchise has ever come this far this fast. In just ten days the movie has banked $274 million and is poised to give Transformers: Dark of the Moon a run for highest grosser of the year (Dark of the Moon dropped to 4th place this week with $325 million in domestic sales to date).

Friends With Benefits took a distant third place with $18 million. All that free publicity the movie received thanks to its stars Mila Kunis and Justin Timberlake taking up invites to Marine formal events didn't pay off enough to get the movie into the $20 million range, but thanks to a modest $35 million budget the film doesn't have far to go to turn a profit.

After ten weeks in theaters Midnight In Paris is still clinging to the number ten spot. Despite decreasing in the number of screens running the film, its weekend sales managed to increase slightly, a rare feat for any movie, even more so for something from Woody Allen.

For the full weekend top ten, check out the chart below.

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Weekend Box Office: First Avenger Takes First Place