YOUR WEAK-END BOX OFFICE: This weekend was good for the movies, as the total ticket take added up to $143.6m, an 8% spike over the same time last year. Tri-Star’s Matt Damon-vs.-the-1% sci-fi flick Elysium came out on top with $30.4m, while Warner’s fake-family-smuggles-weed road comedy We’re the Millers came in second place with $26.5m. So why does Hollywood see Millers as the real winner? Because the weekend’s haul covered most of the film’s $37m budget, whereas Elysium has a ways to go before making back its $115m. Anyhoo, Disney’s Planes took the bronze medal; the inexpensive (i.e. non-Pixar) animated outing will be flying on pure profit shortly. Fox’s $90m Percy Jackson sequel, by contrast, failed to bring the magic. In its second week, the Denzel-Wahlberg actioner 2 Guns dropped nearly 60% but remained the top-performing film not in its first frame.

Elysium $30,400,000
We’re the Millers $26,555,000
Planes $22,525,000
Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters $14,600,000
2 Guns $11,128,000 (-58.9%; $48,517,000 RTD)

In a related story, the sci-fi parable Emphysemium, the tragic tale of a security guard in the distant future who can longer smoke pot, was acted out very dramatically in the UMPG lobby. (8/12a)