Fast & Furious 6 held on to its number one berth in a second weekend for Universal while Lionsgate’s mystery Now You See Me arrived in second place and Sony had to settle for third with Will and Jaden Smith starrer After Earth.

Fast 6 generated a further $34.5m to propel the running total to $170.4m. The action thriller ranks as the second biggest earner in the franchise and at this rate could overtake the $209.8m set by Fast Five within a couple of weeks.

Lionsgate-Summit’s ensemble heist thriller Now You See Me debuted well enough at number two on $28.1m and stars Jesse Eisenberg, Michael Caine, Woody Harrelson and Isla Fisher.

Will Smith is not used to anything other than number one summer launches but the star has been an infrequent sight in recent years – prior to Men In Black 3 last summer he has not been seen since Seven Pounds in 2008 – and it showed as sci-fi After Earth mustered a so-so $27m.

Jaden Smith is the film’s real lead and appears on the big screen opposite his father for the second time after The Pursuit Of Happyness in 2006.

Warner Bros’ The Hangover Part III pulled off a mighty international launch this weekend, however its North American appeal is not as potent. After two weekends the comedy trilogy finale ranks sixth on $88.1m. 2011’s The Hangover Part II finished on $254.5m while the 2009 original ended on $277.3m.

Stablemate The Great Gatsby ranks eighth on a excellent $128.3m after four.

Mud is sticking around and Jeff Nichols’ Southern drama starring Matthew McConaughey ranks ninth on $16.9m through Roadside Attractions after six weekends.

In the limited release arena, Sundance premiere The East starring Brit Marling opened well through Fox Searchlight on $75,600 for an $18,900 average while another Park City premiere, The Kings Of Summer, debuted through CBS Films on $58,000 from four for a $14,500 average.

Next weekend’s wide releases are Fox comedy The Internship starring Owen Wilson and Vince Vaughn and Universal’s genre thriller The Purge from producer Jason Blum starring Ethan Hawke.

Estimated Top 10 North America May 31-Jun 2 2013
Film (Dist) / Est wkd gross / Est total to date
1 (1) Fast & Furious 6 (Universal) UPI $34.5m $170.4m

2 (-) Now You See Me (Lionsgate-Summit) Lionsgate Int’l $28.1m –

3 (-) After Earth (Sony) SPRI $27m –
=4 (3) Star Trek Into Darkness (Paramount) PPI $16.4m $181.2m

=4 (4) Epic (Fox) Fox Int’l $16.4m $65.2m

6 (2) The Hangover Part III (Warner Bros) WBPI $15.9m $88.1m
7 (5) Iron Man 3 (Buena Vista/Marvel) WDSMPI $8m $384.8m
8 (6) The Great Gatsby (Warner Bros-Village Roadshow) WBPI $6.3m $128.3m
9 (7) Mud (Roadside Attractions) FilmNation $1.2m $16.9m
10 (9) The Croods (DreamWorks Animation-Fox) Fox Int’l $615,000 $180.5m

Topics