'Pain & Gain' works out to $20 million opening

Dwayne Johnson and Mark Wahlberg as bodybuilders on a crime spree helped open Pain & Gain at $20 million. The comparatively low-budget effort from Transformers director Michael Bay may not have been exactly what audiences were looking for. They gave the movie a "C+" rating, perhaps expecting to see their favorite stars in more familiar fare.

Even the low benchmark of $10 million proved to be too high for The Big Wedding, which opened to just $7.5 million. There was a great cast, but the marketing failed to highlight a differentiating factor that made this feature more than just another wedding movie.

Last week's number-one film, Oblivion, slid 53% to $17.4 million. The Jackie Robinson biopic 42 fared better, dipping 39% to $10.7 million and bringing its cumulative total close to $70 million. That's already a big win for this modestly budgeted feature that will likely play well post-theatrically. The Croods, which posted just a 28% decline for a total of $6.6 million,

showed that kids' animated films can be the box-office gift that keeps
on giving. At six weeks in, the CG-animated feature is likely not even
halfway through its run, and its $163 million total to date shows how
powerful and long-lasting these movies can be when audiences respond.

There was good news in the specialty market. Matthew McConaughey-led Mud made $2.1 million while in just 363 theatres, just barely missing the top ten. The strong $6,000 per-screen average should make this film a pick in weeks to come. Meanwhile, The Company You Keep didn't gain as much traction as the political thriller expanded into 800 theatres, finishing the week with $1.2 million and a low $1,500 per-screen average.

This Friday will be all about Iron Man 3, which will kick off blockbuster season. Overseas, it's clear that Iron Man 3 is already a hit: It's earned $195 million, on pace with The Avengers,  even though it hasn't opened yet in two big markets: Russia and China. On Friday, it will likely join the box-office elite and become the highest-performing film so far in 2013.