“The Butler” Edges Out One Direction’s “This is Us” for a Box Office Upset

Movie Box Office was a race to the finish this weekend, with Lee Daniels’ The Butler edging out the Morgan Spurlock One Direction documentary, This is Us.

The Butler, which stars Forest Whitaker and Oprah Winfrey, grossed $20 million for the four-day holiday, pushing its domestic total to an $79.3 million. Charting at #1 three weekends in a row, it became the first North American movie of 2013 to do so.

As late as Sunday, Sony/TriStar predicted that This is Us would win the four-day weekend with $21.5 million after coming in ahead of The Butler for the three-day stretch. But Monday, is a new day, and the documentary fell short of that figure, coming in at $18 million. That number is still pretty good, considering it’s modest $10 million dollar budget.

Co-producer, Simon Cowell, must be at least a little disappointed not to make number 1. But he’ll be crying as he deposits all the money the movie nets him into the bank.

On a side note: The director and co-producer, Morgan Spurlock, headed the McDonalds expose, Supersize Me. Alas, no major dirt is unearthed about One Direction in This is Us, although I hear they spend a good bit of the movie  shirtless. Which is a revelation of sorts, no?

Via The Hollywood Reporter

About mj santilli 34867 Articles
Founder and editor of mjsbigblog.com, home of the awesomest fan community on the net. I love cheesy singing shows of all kinds, whether reality or scripted. I adore American Idol, but also love The Voice, Glee, X Factor and more!