Ben Bests The Machines

The fact that McG's Terminator Salvation opened a day before Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian doesn't seem like it's going to matter once the receipts for the 4 day weekend are done being counted...

Maybe star Christian Bale should have worn his Bat-suit in the flick....?

Check out these T-headlines: 'Terminator Salvation': No wonder Christian Bale was angry‎, New "Terminator" no fun without Schwarzenegger, and Clues to Christian Bale's on-set meltdown can be found...

This doesn't bode all that well--especially when you consider that Mueseum's reviews were worse than Salvation's...

So much for insisting that the film be rated PG-13..





Pamela McClintock of Variety:

Twentieth Century Fox's sequel "Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian" won the domestic war against Warner Bros.' reboot "Terminator: Salvation" at the holiday box office.

"Museum 2" grossed an estimated $53.5 million from 4,096 theaters Friday through Sunday, while "T4" grossed an estimated $43 million from 3,530 runs. Opening Thursday to $13.4 million, "T4's" cume is $56.4 million.

Four-day totals for the long Memorial Day weekend won't be released until Monday. But even with Monday's grosses yet to be factored in, "Museum 2" appears to have the race sewn up.

Box observers had expected the contest between "Museum 2" and "T4" to be much closer, despite the fact that one is a family film, the other, a sci-fi actioner.

Benefiting from being the first family summer tentpole, "Museum 2" reps the best live action opening for a Ben Stiller pic.

Overseas, "Museum 2" also made a strong debut, grossing $50.1 million from 8,100 playdates in 93 markets. That puts the film's worldwide opening at roughly $103 million through Sunday.

"Museum 2" came in No. 2 overseas, beat by Sony holdover "Angels and Demons" ($60.4 million).

"Museum 2" saw a boffo 30% jump Friday to Saturday. Also, 52% of the audience were non-family. Film was able to overcome a box office hit in Los Angeles and Denver as sports fans in both cities tuned in to the NBA basketball playoffs.

Sequel easily bested the $43 million opening of "Night at the Museum" over the Christmas holiday in 2006.

In a not-so-good sign for "T4," "Museum 2" beat it on Friday. Fan-driven pics usually do better on Fridays, while family films do bigger business on Saturday and Sunday.

However, "T4's" five-day opening number should be in the vicinity of the five-day opening of "Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines," which clocked in at $68 million.

"T4"--directed by McG and toplining Christian Bale--was produced by Halcyon. Project was a negative pickup for Warners, which invested roughly $50 million in the reboot (not including marketing costs).

Sony, which is handling "T4" overseas, invested roughly $75 million. "T4" doesn't open at the international box office for another two weeks.

Meantime-'Angels & Demons' still strong overseas...

From EW:

Sunday estimates show Ben Stiller family comedy widening its box office lead over ''Terminator Salvation''

Possible negatives aside I still saw T-4 and will have my review posted shortly...