New Movie Releases Aug. 8-10: 'Elysium' Tries to Take the Lead

Two of this week's wide releases got a head start on the weekend, a move intended to give the films a little breathing room during a crowded weekend. Both "We're the Millers" and "Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters" had showings starting on Tuesday that have given them some momentum going into the weekend proper.

"We're the Millers" had a fairly strong opening, pulling in $6.8 million on Wednesday. The raunchy comedy stars Jason Sudeikis and Jennifer Aniston as a drug dealer and a stripper, respectively, who pose as a normal middle-class couple in order to pull off a deal.

"Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters" is a sequel to the fantasy-adventure film "Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief." Both films are based on the popular young-adult books by Rick Riordan.  "Sea of Monsters" took in $5.4 million on Wednesday.

The weekend box office winner, however, is expected to be "Elysium," the big-budget sci-fi film from "District 9" director Neill Blomkamp. The film, which stars Matt Damon as a soldier in a space-age class war, is the summer's final $100-million-plus blockbuster-wannabe and is predicted to take in somewhere in the vicinity of $35 million over the weekend.

The weekend's fourth big movie is Disney's "Planes," a "Cars"-style animated adventure featuring talking vehicles. "Planes" was originally intended to be a direct-to-video project, but Disney elevated it to feature status after test audiences reacted enthusiastically to an early cut. The film's production budget is reportedly around $50 million, a very low figure for an animated featured, and it's bargain price may result in a good return on investment for Disney.