Weekends at the box office with Alex Witt

Weekend box office round up: The Butler dominates while Kick Ass 2 does not live up to its name.

O, the power of Oprah…and a great cast and storyline. Lee Daniels’ The Butler cleaned up at the weekend box with $25,010,000. Critic and audience sentiments aligned for the movie as both dished out positive reviews. A. O. Scott of the New York Timeswrote, “The genius of The Butler lies in the sly and self-assured way it connects public affairs to private experience,” while former First Lady Barbara Bush cried at a screening, according to Daniels, the director.

Audiences and critics, however, did not receive Kick-Ass 2 nearly so well. The comic-book adaptation didn’t even make the medal podium, mustering a fourth-place finish with $13,568,000.

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In second place at the box office with a weekend gross of $17,780,000 was We’re the Millers, in which Jennifer Aniston plays a stripper posing as Jason Sudeikis wife. The comedy continues to exceed analysts’ expectations.

For Subscribers

FOR SUBSCRIBERSCBP leaders cut out of Trump ad buy decision

FOR SUBSCRIBERSAmerican passenger drafted goodbye texts to her family as Flydubai plane plummeted

FOR SUBSCRIBERSCornell rape allegation pushes embattled New York prosecutor into national spotlight

FOR SUBSCRIBERSAbdul El-Sayed tries to woo MAHA voters as Democrats seek inroads with RFK’s supporters

FOR SUBSCRIBERSKratom-like substances are popping up in a typically benign supplement

FOR SUBSCRIBERSGOP super PAC increases its spending for Sen. Jon Husted in tough Ohio race

FOR SUBSCRIBERSRecords reveal tumultuous marriage between slain New York Times executive and wife

FOR SUBSCRIBERSFrom clean energy warrior to ‘wall of shame,’ James Talarico reverses on a fossil fuel money pledge

FOR SUBSCRIBERSCongressional staff planned official trip with luxury stops in Italy and France weeks before election

FOR SUBSCRIBERSA harrowing ordeal aboard an Israel-bound plane

FOR SUBSCRIBERSOpenAI CEO Sam Altman to skip congressional hearing on rogue AI agents

FOR SUBSCRIBERSKey DOJ lawyers departed Trump ‘grand conspiracy’ probe amid pressure to produce, source says

FOR SUBSCRIBERSTrump’s new AI chatbot often links to a site launched under Clinton 26 years ago

FOR SUBSCRIBERSAt MAHA summit, industry CEOs the movement once vilified take the stage

FOR SUBSCRIBERSThis Paralympian has two goals: Win medals and give away $500,000 to her teammates

If only Ashton Kutcher could have rallied the millions who watched his viral Teen Choice Award’sspeech to attend his movie, Jobs. The Steve Jobs biopic directed by Joshua Stern took seventh and earned $6,7000,000.

What has been your favorite summer flick? Comment below!