Anne Marie Fox
It was the weekend of Oprah. Her first film in 15 years, The Butler, won the weekend box office, bringing in a respectable $25 million in three days. The film’s main expected competition, Kick-Ass 2, didn’t live up to hype, bringing in just $13.6 million—$10 million short of projections. The other two openings, Jobs and Paranoia, also disappointed, bringing in $6.7 million and $3.5 million respectively. The Butler, meanwhile, had an average rating of A after the weekend, with filmgoers saying the No. 1 reason they went to see it was the subject matter, and Winfrey the second reason. The film has already drawn early comparisons to The Help, which brought in $26 million in its opening weekend in August 2011 and later went on to earn $169.7 million in the U.S. and Canada and gather a number of Oscar nominations.