BRIDESMAIDS: WHAT A RECEPTION!

If executives at one studio were wringing their hands over the failure of Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides to crack the $100-million mark, executives at another were no doubt pumping them in the air after learning that Bridesmaids declined just 20 percent in its second week to $20.9 million. It managed to beat out Thor, last week’s No. 1 film, which fell 55 percent to $15.5 million. Also celebrating wildly on Monday presumably were the distributors of Woody Allen’s Midnight in Paris, which earned $599,003 dollars in just six theaters — or an average of $100,000 per theater. (Earlier estimates had put the per-theater average much lower but still well above that for Pirates 4.)

The top ten films over the weekend, according to final figures compiled by Box Office Mojo (figures in parentheses represent total gross to date):
1. Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, Disney, $90,151,958, (New); 2. Bridesmaids, Universal, $20,882,070, 1 Wks. ($59,341,310); 3. Thor, Paramount, $15,455,304, 3 Wks. ($145,361,459); 4. Fast Five, Universal, $10,576,865, 4 Wks. ($186,165,450); 5. Priest, Sony, $4,750,041, 2 Wks. ($23,833,169); 6. Rio, 20th Century Fox, $4,687,714, 6 Wks. ($131,684,365); 7. Jumping the Broom, Sony/Tristar, $3,703,010, 3 Wks. ($31,320,562); 8. Something Borrowed, Warner Bros., $3,516,387, 3 Wks. ($31,519,452); 9. Water For Elephants, 20th Century Fox, $2,179,046, 5 Wks. ($52,456,620); 10. Madea’s Big Happy Family, Lionsgate, $956,589, 5 Wks. ($51,723,579).