Lee Daniel’s The Butler topped the weekend box office for the second week in a row as it dipped just 31%, while the raunchy drug-smuggling comedy We’re the Millers continued to impress as it fell just 24.6% and finished in second place.  Newcomer Mortal Instruments, which is based on a popular YA novel series, became the latest YA-inspired effort to fail at the formidable task of becoming a new Twilight.  Edgar (Ant-Man) Wright’s The World’s End earned almost as much as Mortal Instruments, even though it was on just half as many screens.  Overall the box office was up a solid 12% from the same weekend last year when Expendables 2 topped the charts for the second week in a row.
 
The Butler, which has received good word-of-mouth and lots of editorial coverage due to its portrayal of the civil rights movement from the perspective of a single black family, managed to broaden its base, which gives further indication that it will be around for a lengthy box office run.  Caucasians made up 55% of the audience compared with 48% during the first weekend, and the percentage of audience members over 25, which was 76% during the opening weekend, dropped to 62% during the second frame.

Weekend Box Office (Studio Estimates): August 23-25, 2013
	Film	Weekend Gross	Screens	Avg./ Screen	Total Gross	Wk#
1	Lee Daniels' The Butler	$17,018,000	3,110	$5,472	$52,275,000	2
2	We're the Millers	$13,500,000	3,445	$3,919	$91,740,000	3
3	The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones	$9,300,000	3,118	$2,983	$14,051,000	1
4	The World's End	$8,942,000	1,549	$5,773	$8,942,000	1
5	Planes	$8,567,000	3,378	$2,536	$59,591,000	3
6	Elysium	$7,100,000	2,913	$2,437	$69,054,000	3
7	You're Next	$7,050,000	2,437	$2,893	$7,050,000	1
8	Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters	$5,200,000	2,730	$1,905	$48,346,000	3
9	Blue Jasmine	$4,300,000	1,283	$3,352	$14,799,000	5
10	Kick-Ass 2	$4,270,000	2,945	$1,450	$22,423,000	2

Meanwhile We’re the Millers is now approaching the $100 million mark in just its third weekend of domestic release.  Produced for just $37 million, The Millers gives Warner Brothers a second modestly-budgeted hit this summer--the studio’s horror film The Conjuring, which cost just $20 million to produce, has passed the $200 million mark worldwide.
 
The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones, which is based on Cassandra Clare’s supernatural YA series, did appeal to its target audience of young females, just not enough of them.  Opening weekend audiences were overwhelmingly female (68%) and younger (46% under 21).  Produced by the German company Constantin Films, the first Mortal Instruments film stars Lily Collins as a demon-hunting teen.  This crowded 2013 movie season has turned into virtual cinematic graveyard for YA-based films attempting to become the next Twilight Saga or Hunger Games.  Warner Bros. Beautiful Creatures, based on a Southern Gothic saga that had sold 1.3 million books here in the U.S., flopped in February, followed by the box office demise of The Host, which was based on a book authored by Twilight’s Stephenie Meyer.
 
Edgar Wrights apocalyptic comedy The World’s End, the final film in his Cornetto Trilogy, opened in just 1,549 theaters, but managed to post the best per-venue average in the top 10 ($5,773).  The World’s End opened stronger than the previous two films in the series, and earned a solid "B+" CinemaScore from an audience that was predominantly male (58%) and well-educated (60% college grads).  With great reviews (91% positive on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes), the modestly-budgeted ($20 million) The World’s End could have a fairly long run, if it can manage to broaden its appeal a bit.
 
Fifth place went to Disney’s Planes, which fell just 36% in its third frame.  With a domestic cumulative just approaching $60 million, Planes has a long way to go to make the $100 million mark, but it has a full month without any new competition until Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs 2 opens on September 27th, so it at least has a chance.
 
Also in its third frame, Neil Blomkamp’s science fiction saga Elysium slipped 48% as it earned $7 million and brought its domestic total to $69 million.  Since it remains way behind Blomkamp's previous sci-if effort District 9, which had earned $87.4 million by this time in its domestic run, the success of Elysium will depend on how it does in the world market.
 
This week’s most disappointing opening might belong to the horror film You’re Next, a pitch-black home invasion saga that pleased the critics (80% positive on Rotten Tomatoes, a very good score for a film in this genre), and which many felt would be the top new film at this weekend’s box office.  Will audience’s catch up with this film in theaters or on disc?  The next few weeks should tell the tale.
 
Fox’s sophomore Percy Jackson film, Sea of Monsters, slipped to the eighth spot on its third weekend in theaters.  At the same point in its theatrical run the first Percy Jackson film had earned $68.4 million, while Sea of Monsters current total is just $48.3 million, which means that the overseas market is the only hope for the franchise.
 
With a 68% drop from its opening weekend it is now quite clear that Kick-Ass 2 is a major disappointment.  At the same point in its run the original Kick-Ass movie had earned $32 million versus $22.4 million for the sequel.  With its modest budget Kick-Ass 2 should avoid losing money, but there appears to be little or no incentive to continue this comic book-based franchise.
 
Another Universal comic book-based release 2 Guns slipped to #11 in its fourth week in theaters.  But this movie’s chances of profitability are a good deal better, though it too will have to depend on foreign earnings to make it into the black.
 
Fox’s The Wolverine slipped to #15 and appears about done with its domestic run with a five-week total of $125 million.  It will finish well behind 2009’s X-Men Origins: Wolverine, which earned nearly $180 million domestically.  The Wolverine is doing better overseas, where it has already earned $22 million more than its predecessor, and Fox used production credits to actually lower the cost of the sequel to $120 million (versus $150 million for the first film), so this is one superhero saga that should remain in the black, but unless it can continue to expand its overseas earnings, it won’t prove to be a big moneymaker (at least in theaters).
 
Check back next week to see if the modestly budgeted action film The Getaway or the concert film featuring teen heartthrobs One Direction can challenge for box office supremacy.