Box Office

YOUR WEEKEND BOX OFFICE: Though it fell well short of expectations—and earned its franchise's smallest opening-weekend take since the first X-Men in 2000—The Wolverine still ruled over the weekend box office with $55 million. And while this was an underwhelming domestic bow, the Hugh Jackman starrer earned a boffo $85.3 million internationally. Meanwhile, the supernatural thriller The Conjuring is showing real staying power; given the disastrous recent fates of big-budget actioners like The Lone Ranger and RIPD, modestly budgeted fright flicks, especially ones with good word of mouth, may offer studios more bang for buck than any other genre. Of course, animated sequel Despicable Me 2 has now earned $306.4m (more than four times its budget) in four weeks, but fellow 'toon Turbo isn't faring so well. Here's how things shook out at the megaplexes:

1. The Wolverine (Fox) — $55m, 3,924/$14,016 average (debut)
2. The Conjuring (WB) — $22m (-47.1%), 3,022/$7,323 average (week 2)
3. Despicable Me 2 (Universal) — $16m (-35.7%), 3,476/$4,610 average (week 4)
4. Turbo (Fox) — $13m (-37.5%), 3,809/$3,498 average (week 2)
5. Grown Ups 2 (Sony) — $11.5m (-42.1%) 3,258/$3,530 average (week 3)

Oh, and speaking of cost-effective genres, maybe the future is in comedy performance flicks. Kevin Hart: Let Me Explain has now made $31.5 million in four weeks. According to some reports, it cost $750k to make. (7/29a)