Weekend Box Office: Resident Evil: Retribution Tops Finding Nemo 3D - Cinema Blend

How many Resident Evil movies does it take before audiences get bored? No one's quite sure, but after this weekend's disappointing debut of Resident Evil: Retribution, we may be closing in on an answer.

The fifth film in the RE franchise opened at first place, but that was little consolation given the sharp drop it saw from the previous entry. At $21 million it fell short of Resident Evil: Afterlife's $26 million debut and came in fourth place overall in the franchise. While it technically topped the original Resident Evil's $17 million debut, the increased ticket prices mean fewer people bought tickets making it the least popular RE opening of all time.

There was also bad news for Disney's 3D re-release of Finding Nemo. There were hopes its solid popularity among audiences and its status as one of Pixar's highest grossing films, might help it get the same launch as The Lion King when it re-opened in 3D last year to the tune of $30 million. Not so. Audiences handed over little more than half that amount, sending Nemo home with just $17 million and second place this weekend.

Despite only opening in 200 theaters, Richard Gere's much discussed and critically accliamed Arbitrage only missed the top ten by two spots and less than half a million dollars. That was a far better turn out than new comer Last Ounce of Courage which, despite opening in almost 1,500 venues, only banked $1.7 million this weekend. The movie, which comes from conservative studio Rocky Mountain Pictures (best known for bank rolling 2016 Obama's America and Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed) has a direct-to-video feel to it and the lack of marketing suggests the studio might have felt the same way. The result? A number 15 opening and destined for a quick trip out of theaters.

Meanwhile Paul Thomas Anderson's award-season-buzzey drama The Master opened on just five screens but saw nearly $750,000 in sales. While it's snobby art house feel might keep the bigger audiences away when it releases wide, its well known cast, including Amy Adams, Philip Seymour Hoffman and Joaquin Phoenix, may help it hit number one when it expands.

For the full weekend top ten, check out the chart below:

1. Resident Evil: Retribution * $21,100,000 Total: $21,100,000 LW: N     WR: 1     THTRS: 3,012

2. Finding Nemo (3D) * $17,504,000 Total: $17,504,000 LW: N     WR: 1     THTRS: 2,904

3. The Possession $5,800,000 Total: $41,167,000 LW: 1     WR: 3     THTRS: 2,860

4. Lawless $4,219,000 Total: $30,141,000 LW: 2     WR: 3     THTRS: 3,063

5. ParaNorman $3,039,000 Total: $49,336,000 LW: 5     WR: 5     THTRS: 2,326

6. The Expendables 2 $3,030,000 Total: $80,290,000 LW: 3     WR: 5     THTRS: 2,896

7. The Words $2,880,000 Total: $9,160,000 LW: 4     WR: 2     THTRS: 2,801

8. The Bourne Legacy $2,875,000 Total: $107,817,000 LW: 6     WR: 6     THTRS: 2,170

9. The Odd Life of Timothy Green $2,511,000 Total: $46,284,000 LW: 7     WR: 5     THTRS: 2,415

10. The Campaign $2,405,000 Total: $82,857,000 LW: 8     WR: 6     THTRS: 2,002