Holding off a nice run from 22 Jump Street, the romantic comedy Think Like a Man Too took the top spot this weekend with a $30 million opening. That’s great news for Kevin Hart, the gleeful star and narrator of the Steve Harvey-inspired ensemble piece, though early estimates predicted the sequel performing closer to the tune of $35 million. The sequel didn’t match the original’s 2012 opening weekend kitty of $33.6 million, but the laffer also cost a modest $24 million to make. Sony predicts a strong weekday play going forward, buoyed by Man‘s strong word-of-mouth and A- CinemaScore rating.
There’s a couple of great jokes in Think Like a Man Too where the lone square fella of the core Vegas bachelor party suggests the boys eschew a night of gambling and strip clubs and catch a performance of Jersey Boys instead. “It won like eight Tonys!” he says when the men recoil. Whether or not it was a pointed reference to Think Like a Man Too‘s fellow new release or not is unknown, but the Clint Eastwood adaptation ofJersey Boys hit a bit of a flat note in fourth place with $13.5 million. Going forward Broadway fans and older audiences may seek it out as a break from the jarring noise of superheroes and metal machines clashing angrily into each other. (Though I’m not sure Kevin Hart and his Vegas buddies would make that bet.) But with a budget of $40 million, Jersey Boys, which earned an impressive A- CinemaScore vote, still has some major singing to do for its supper.
Meanwhile in its second week of release 22 Jump Street nearly had its teeth in the No. 1 spot. The Channing Tatum/Jonah Hill buddy comedy took in $29 million this weekend, bringing its domestic grosses past $111 million. With a second-week drop of 49.8% in domestic markets, and a $14.1 million pickup in international territories, Sony executives should be bumping chests. Also holding strong is the parent-tested, kid-approved How to Train Your Dragon 2, which pulled in $25.3 million in its second week of release. All four aforementioned movies would do well to bow down to month-oldMaleficent, the Angelina Jolie phenom that dropped just 29.7% this weekend with $13 million. The fairy queen will not go gentle into that good night.
Here is how your top five shook out this weekend:
1. Think Like a Man Too – $30 million
2. 22 Jump Street – $29 million
3. How to Train Your Dragon 2 – $25.3 million
4. Jersey Boys – $13.5 million
5. Maleficent – $13 million
[This Post Originally Appeared on insidemovies.ew.com]