Weekend Box Office Report: The Butler Did It!
By Bill Wine
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Yep, The Butler did it.
Director Lee Daniels' The Butler, the racially charged drama about a longtime African-American White House employee, starring Forest Whitaker and Oprah Winfrey, finished first at the box office on its opening weekend, earning an estimated $25-million.
The runner up was the holdover comedy, We're The Millers, with Jason Sudeikis and Jennifer Aniston, with $18-million.
In a virtual tie for third and fourth place were last weekend's leader, Elysium, the sci-fi thriller with Matt Damon, and the debuting comedic thriller, sequel Kick-Ass 2.
Each earned just under $14-million.
The other new release to finish in the top 10 was Jobs, the Steve Jobs bio drama with Ashton Kutcher. It totaled $7-million, good for seventh place.
Overall, industry-wide totals were well below those of a year ago.
