Memorial Day Weekend Box Office: No Holiday Salvation For Terminator

If Terminator Salvation is McG's attempt to shock new life into the franchise he should have brought a higher voltage defibrillator kit. As it stands now the fourth film in the series not only lost out to a family movie sequel, its watered down PG-13 rating couldn't help it do any better than its predecessor Rise of the Machines.

Amongst studio execs the prevailing thought seems to be that a PG-13 rated action flick will do better than one that's rated R. It's a reasonable expectation since you can appeal to a wider age-range audience, but if a PG-13 Terminator Salvation could only muster $43 million over the regular three-day weekend, a grittier, more traditional rated R version likely wouldn't have been able to compete at all with Terminator 3 which opened in 2003 at $44 million, or perhaps even Terminator 2 with its 1991 $31 million debut.

Estimates for the 4-Day Memorial Day weekend give Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian an even bigger jump on Terminator. It rounded out the holiday with a solid $70 million while Terminator Salvation made it all the way to $53 million. Terminator may have ended up making a decent opening, but the real question is how it will hold up in the long run. It has big strides to make if it's going to top the $204 million Terminator: Judgment Day made overall to become the most lucrative Terminator entry.

Dance Flick bowed in with $10.7 million for the regular weekend, $13.1 million for the holiday total. It's good news for a movie that only cost $25 million to make, but bad news for those of us tired of seeing non-funny spoof movie paraded through theaters.

The much buzzed Girlfriend Experience jumped from the film festival circuit into small theater release. With only 30 theaters it managed $200,000 over the four day holiday weekend.

Whether you're grilling out or headed to the movies this weekend, don't forget to take a moment to pause and reflect on the reason for the holiday: the memory of those who have served in our military in defense of the freedoms we enjoy every day.

Memorial Day 3-Day Totals

1. Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian * $53,500,000 - Total: $53,500,000 LW: N WR: 1 THTRS: 4,096

2. Terminator Salvation * $43,010,000 - Total: $56,382,000 LW: N WR: 1 THTRS: 3,530

3. Star Trek $22,783,000 - Total: $184,417,000 LW: 2 WR: 3 THTRS: 4,053

4. Angels & Demons $21,800,000 - Total: $81,911,000 LW: 1 WR: 2 THTRS: 3,527

5. Dance Flick * $10,734,000 - Total: $10,734,000 LW: N WR: 1 THTRS: 2,450

6. X-Men Origins: Wolverine $7,950,000 - Total: $163,204,000 LW: 3 WR: 4 THTRS: 3,183

7. Ghosts of Girlfriends Past $3,810,000 - Total: $45,948,000 LW: 4 WR: 4 THTRS: 2,255

8. Obsessed $1,975,000 - Total: $65,883,000 LW: 5 WR: 5 THTRS: 1,603

9. Monsters Vs. Aliens $1,417,000 - Total: $193,063,000 LW: 7 WR: 9 THTRS: 1,434

10. 17 Again $1,010,000 - Total: $60,319,000 LW: 6 WR: 6 THTRS: 1,107

Memorial Day 4-Day Totals

1. Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian $70,000,000 - Total: $70,000,000 LW: N WR: 1 THTRS: 4,096

2. Terminator Salvation $53,825,000 - Total: $67,198,000 LW: N WR: 1 THTRS: 3,530

3. Star Trek $29,400,000 - Total: $191,034,000 LW: 2 WR: 3 THTRS: 4,053

4. Angels & Demons $27,700,000 - Total: $87,811,000 LW: 1 WR: 2 THTRS: 3,527

5. Dance Flick $13,100,000 - Total: $13,100,000 LW: N WR: 1 THTRS: 2,450

6. X-Men Origins: Wolverine $10,100,000 - Total: $165,354,000 LW: 3 WR: 4 THTRS: 3,183

7. Ghosts of Girlfriends Past $4,835,000 - Total: $46,973,000 LW: 4 WR: 4 THTRS: 2,255

8. Obsessed $2,500,000 - Total: $66,408,000 LW: 5 WR: 5 THTRS: 1,603

9. Monsters Vs. Aliens $1,900,000 - Total: $193,546,000 LW: 7 WR: 9 THTRS: 1,434

10. 17 Again $1,280,000 - Total: $60,589,000 LW: 6 WR: 6 THTRS: 1,107