Sony's "Angels & Demons" opened No. 1 at the box office after taking in $48 million during the weekend domestically. However, its worldwide gross was much higher.
Directed by Ron Howard and co-produced by Imagine Entertainment, "Angels" had an international debut of $104.3 million. That makes for a $152.3 million worldwide tally, though with domestic grosses on the lower end of industry expectations, Sony executives are hoping that the film will not drop off during its second weekend of release.
"Angels" is a follow up to Sony's "The Da Vinci Code." Also directed by Howard, "Code" opened in May 2006 with $77 million domestically and registered a total $757 million in worldwide box office.
In "Angels," Hanks again portrays Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon, with Israeli actress Ayelet Zurer ("Vantage Point") co-starring.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, mixed film reviews may have hampered its domestic performance, but execs expect "Angels" -- produced for an estimated $150 million -- to display good staying power.
In The Hollywood Reporter, Sony worldwide distribution president Rory Bruer said:
Paramount's well-reviewed sci-fi film "Star Trek" had an impressive second weekend as it came in second place in the domestic rankings. The film dropped just 46% from its first frame to $43 million and a $147.6 million total. Fox's "X-Men Origins: Wolverine" finished third in its third weekend in release with $14.8 million and a $151.1 million total.
Summit Entertainment's urban action comedy "Next Day Air" fell 45% in its second weekend to $2.3 million, good for ninth place and a 10-day total of $7.6 million.
This weekend the box office numbers will be stretched by the all-important Memorial Day grosses. The Monday holiday could help "Angels" mount a strong second session, but the film will compete with three wide openers including two tentpole releases; "Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian" and "Terminator Salvation."
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