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Saturday AM Update: The Wolverine opened in first place on Friday with an estimated $21 million. That's way lower than X-Men Origins: Wolverine ($34.4 million) and also slightly below X-Men: First Class ($21.3 million). In fact, it's the lowest start for an X-Men movie since the original movie in 2000. For the weekend, The Wolverine should earn between $50 and $55 million. Hugh JackmanWoody AllenDaniel CraigAubrey Plaza

Four new movies opened nationwide this weekend, and the cheapest of the bunch came out on top.Adam SandlerKristen WiigRyan GoslingNicolas Winding RefnBrad PittEdgar Wright

Saturday AM Update: The Conjuring opened to over $17 million on Friday, which was slightly ahead of recent R-rated horror hit The Purge ($16.8 million). Meanwhile, Turbo and Red 2 underwhelmed with $6.5 million and $6.3 million, respectively. Also, as expected R.I.P.D. was a major disappointment with just $4.8 million. Bruce WillisCatherine Zeta-JonesJeff BridgesRyan ReynoldsKristen WiigRyan GoslingNicolas Winding Refn

Gauging by Internet hype, Pacific Rim was easily the most-anticipated movie opening this weekend. General audiences weren't quite as enthusiastic, though, and the monsters vs. robots action movie wound up behind Adam Sandler's Grown Ups 2 and animated hit Despicable Me 2.Sandra BullockMelissa McCarthyJohnny DeppWill SmithJaden Smith

Saturday AM Update: While Pacific Rim had more hype, general audiences ultimately chose to go with Grown Ups 2 on Friday. Adam Sandler's first sequel took first place with an estimated $16.3 million, which is a bit above the first movie's $14.4 million opening day. Meanwhile, Pacific Rim took second place with an estimated $14.6 million, which is a tad disappointing considering how strong its Thursday night grosses were. Meanwhile, Despicable Me 2 fell 56 percent to an estimated $13.4 million. Christopher NolanLeonardo DiCaprioAdam SandlerKevin JamesChris RockDavid SpadeTaylor Lautner

Over a very busy Fourth of July weekend, Despicable Me 2 had one of the best debuts ever for an animated movie, while The Lone Ranger got off to an underwhelming start. Meanwhile, Kevin Hart: Let Me Explain crushed expectations and did fantastic business for a stand-up movie.EminemJohnny DeppSandra BullockMelissa McCarthy

After May and June set new monthly records, July 2013 is poised to get off to a strong start over Independence Day weekend. Opening at 3,956 locations on Wednesday, Despicable Me 2 should be able to leverage goodwill from the original movie in to at least $100 million in its first five days. Meanwhile, The Lone Ranger rides in to 3,904 theaters, though it will probably only open to about half as much as Despicable Me 2. Finally, Kevin Hart: Let Me Explain debuts nationwide in 876 theaters and will have one of the best starts ever for a stand-up movie.Johnny DeppJerry BruckheimerGore Verbinski

Following a record-setting May, the domestic box office continued to boom in to June. Thanks to sure-fire hits Man of Steel and Monsters University—and surprise performances from World War Z and Now You See Me—overall grosses came in at $1.25 billion, which is up a whopping 18 percent on June 2012. Jaden SmithVince VaughnOwen Wilson

Proving once again that women do, in fact, like going to the movies, The Heat got off to a very strong start this weekend. The weekend's other new movie, White House Down, failed to differentiate itself from March's Olympus Has Fallen and wound up collapsing under the weight of all of the other appealing options in the market. Sandra BullockMelissa McCarthyPaul FeigBrad PittChanning TatumRoland Emmerich

Saturday AM Update: Monsters University held on to first place on Friday with an estimated $14.3 million, which puts it on pace for a weekend around $47 million. The Heat wasn't far behind with $13.6 million, and should earn at least $35 million in its first frame. Meanwhile, White House Down was a major disappointment: the movie took in an estimated $9 million, which is a bit lower than similar movie Olympus Has Fallen's $10.1 million start. For the weekend, White House Down will finish below $30 million. Channing TatumJamie FoxxRoland EmmerichSandra BullockMelissa McCarthyPaul Feig

Coming off Man of Steel's record-breaking opening last weekend, it seemed unlikely that both Monsters University and World War Z would score strong debuts this weekend. Ultimately, that assumption proved very wrong: Monsters University had one of Pixar's highest openings ever, while World War Z crushed even the most generous expectations. The loser here was Man of Steel, which took an abnormally large drop against this tough competition.Brad Pitt

Friday AM Update: While Game 7 of the NBA Finals drew a ton of attention on Thursday night, the two new nationwide releases still managed to perform well in late shows. World War Z earned $3.6 million on 2,600 screens—that's about even with Prometheus's midnights last year ($3.56 million) and up on The Great Gatsby's late-night shows from last month ($3.25 million). Both of those movies opened just over $50 million, which now seems like a good target for World War Z. Brad PittWill Smith

Man of Steel was one of the most-anticipated movie events of the year, and from a box office perspective it did not disappoint.Christopher NolanZack SnyderSeth RogenEvan GoldbergWill SmithJaden Smith

Saturday AM Update: After starting strong on Thursday night, Man of Steeladded a very impressive $44.05 million on Friday ($56.05 million total). That opening day ranks 20th all-time, and second among non-sequels behind The Hunger Games ($67.3 million). That's also the highest opening day ever for a superhero origin story, and it's twice as high as Superman Returns's $18 million debut. Zack SnyderChristopher NolanBryan SingerRichard DonnerDavid S. GoyerHenry CavillAmy AdamsHans ZimmerSeth RogenEvan GoldbergJames FrancoDanny McBrideBen StillerJack BlackSofia Coppola

Thanks to a clever, well-executed marketing effort, micro-budget horror movie The Purge easily took first place this weekend ahead of higher-profile Vince Vaughn/Owen Wilson comedy The Internship. Meanwhile, Fast & Furious 6 became the second Summer 2013 movies to pass $200 million at the domestic box office.Jason BlumEthan HawkeJaden SmithJoss Whedon

With Man of Steel just a week away, the major studios opted to avoid releasing any of their heavy-hitters this weekend. At 3,365 locations, Wedding Crashers stars Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson team up again for The Internship, though the Google-centric premise isn't nearly as appealing as that of their previous collaboration. As a result, first place will likely go to low-budget high-concept horror flick The Purge, which is playing at 2,536 theaters and should wind up with over $20 million. Woody AllenJason BlumJoss Whedon

With a handful of high-profile sequels like Iron Man 3 and Star Trek Into Darkness, May 2013 was always expected to be a huge month at the box office. It did not wind up disappointing: overall box office came in at a record $1.14 billion, which is up 11 percent from last May and up 10 percent from 2011's previous high ($1.04 billion).

After flying high over Memorial Day, the box office came crashing down this weekend. All of the major holdovers fell over 50 percent, while After Earth opened on track with recent sci-fi bombs like John Carter and Battleship. The only bright spot was Now You See Me, which opened way above expectations. Morgan FreemanJaden SmithM. Night ShyamalanWill Smith

Star Trek Into Darkness easily opened on top this weekend, though it wasn't the kind of box office sensation that many—including distributor Paramount—were expecting it to be. J.J. AbramsLeonardo DiCaprio

Saturday AM Update: Star Trek Into Darkness added $22 million on Friday for a two-day total o $35.5 million. That Friday figure is a bit lower than 2009's Star Trek ($26.9 million), and it appears that four years of anticipation and help from 3D ticket prices isn't really giving Into Darkness much of a boost. Paramount is projecting $83.5 million for the four-day opening, though the comparables are all over the place and it could very easily wind up diverging significantly from that figure. One positive note: the movie did receive an "A" CinemaScore, which suggests overall word-of-mouth may be better than the mixed chatter online. J.J. AbramsPatrick Stewart