box office

As expected, Pixar’s ‘Cars 2′ easily took first place at the weekend box office, netting a healthy $68 million. That’s about $8 million higher than the original ‘Cars,’ which opened to $60.1 million in 2006.

As expected, ‘Green Lantern’ was the number one movie at the box office this weekend, taking in a slightly underwhelming $52.7 million, according to weekend estimates. That number marks the lowest opening for a superhero movie this summer, behind ‘Thor’ ($66 million) ‘X-Men: First Class’ ($56 million).

Though it wasn't what one might call a "super" performance, J.J. Abrams' alien-adventure movie 'Super 8' took the top spot at the box office this weekend with a healthy $37.0 million, opening slightly higher than expected. That was more than enough to edge out last week's champ, 'X-Men: First Class,' which dipped 55 percent to earn just $25.0 million.

As many predicted, 'X-Men: First Class' easily took the top spot at the box office this weekend. Still, the Marvel reboot, which traced the beginnings of the 'X-Men' characters, managed to fall well below expectations, taking in just $56.0 million. To put things in perspective: That's the lowest debut by an 'X-Men' movie since the franchise launched in 2000, with $54.5 million.

The 'Hangover' boys were back for another booze-filled adventure this weekend, and as box office estimates showed, audiences were more than willing to go along for the ride. The sequel to the 2009 smash comedy took in a whopping $105.8 million over four days, helping to make this weekend the biggest Memorial Day weekend ever at the box office. Even better for 'Part II,' its $86.0 intake between Fr

'Thor' continued to show its strength at the box office this weekend. The Marvel superhero flick, starring breakout hunk Chris Hemsworth, took in an estimated $34.5 million, bringing its 10-day total to $119.3 million. Overall, 'Thor' was down 48 percent from last weekend, according to EW.com.

As expected, 'Thor' enjoyed a solid performance at the weekend box office. The superhero flick, which impressed most critics with its action-packed storyline and breakout performance by star Chris Hemsworth, took in an impressive $66 million, leaving the rest of the competition in the dust. Globally, the film has already grossed $242 million, according to Variety.

'Fast Five' kicked into high gear at the weekend box office. The action-packed sequel, the fifth in the 'Fast and the Furious' franchise, took in a whopping $83.6 million, setting a record for the best April opening ever. (April's previous owner was fittingly 2009's 'Fast and Furious, with $71 million.) 'Fast Five's' impressive debut was more than enough to dethrone last weekend's box office champ

Easter came a bit early at the movies this weekend, thanks to the live-action/animated movie ÔHop.Õ The film, which features the voice talent of comedian Russell Brand, vastly exceeded expectations at the box office with an impressive $38. 2 million, marking the highest weekend debut of the year.