The Expendables 2 seemed to improve on its predecessor on virtually every level. “New” old faces like Chuck Norris and Jean-Claude Van Damme joined the stable of iconic action heroes, including Sylvester Stallone, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Bruce Willis. Critics deemed this weekend’s sequel better than the original (67% Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes versus 41% for the first Expendables film).
 
And yet, The Expendables 2 opened to an estimated $28.7 million at the box office in its initial frame … well short of the surprising $34.8 million notched by The Expendables in 2010. Are audiences experiencing Expendables fatigue already? Because that wouldn’t bode well for a third Expendables film – even though our readers (and editors) are having a lot of fun “mock” casting the unannounced sequel. 
 
All is not lost in Expendables land, though. Lionsgate still can celebrate the film opening to No. 1, outpacing The Bourne Legacy in its second weekend. Tony Gilroy’s spy thriller pocketed an estimated $17M, pushing its overall cume to $69.5M. 
 
And Expendables far exceeded the totals grabbed by the three remaining newcomers to the Top 10. The stop-motion animated ParaNorman played to its gothic base, earning $14M in its opening weekend … which is $2M off the opening number posted by the likeminded Coraline back in 2009. That film went on to earn $75.2M at the domestic box office, and ParaNorman should end up right in that ballpark. 
 
Audiences flocking to Sparkle to say farewell to the late Whitney Houston powered the musical to $12M – fantastic news for the reportedly $14M-budgeted drama. 
 
And Disney’s fantasy family film The Odd Life of Timothy Green got off to a good start last Wednesday but slowed a bit over the weekend (probably as kids and parents opted for ParaNorman). Timothy Green picked roughly $10.9M out of Hollywood’s garden over the weekend, and has earned $15.1M since opening on Aug. 15.
 
Here’s the full Top 10 list for the weekend:
 
MOVIE / WEEKEND / TOTAL
1. The Expendables 2, $28.7M
 
2. The Bourne Legacy, $17M, $69.5M
 
3. ParaNorman, $14M
 
4. The Campaign, $13.3M, $51.6M
 
5. Sparkle, $12M
 
6. The Dark Knight Rises, $11.1M, $409.9M
 
7. The Odd Life of Timothy Green, $10.9M, $15.1M
 
8. Hope Spring, $9.1M, $35M
 
9. Diary of a Wimpy Kid, $3.8M, $38.7M
 
10. Total Recall, $3.5M, $51.7M
 
 

 
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