Green Lantern opened top of the charts on $52.7m according to Warner Bros estimates, though box office observers were quick to point out it was the lowest debut for a superhero film this summer.

Ryan Reynolds stars in the DC Comics adaptation alongside Mark Strong, Blake Lively and Peter Sarsgaard.

AP reported that while the weekend was down 25% on the same session last year – when Toy Story 3 opened on $110m – summer receipts are up approximately 7% on 2010.

Paramount’s Super 8 fell to second place and stands at $72.8m after two weekends, while nobody at Fox will be thrilled by the $18.2m third place debut of Jim Carrey family vehicle Mr Popper’s Penguins.

SPC expanded Midnight In Paris into 1,038 screens, marking the widest release ever for a Woody Allen film. The gambit paid off as the film brought in a further $5.2m in its fifth weekend to reach $21.8m.

Sundance hit The Art Of Getting By, known during its Park City launch as Homework, opened through Fox Searchlight in 14th place on $700,000 from 610 theatres.

Next weekend’s wide releases are Sony’s R-rated comedy Bad Teacher with Cameron Diaz, Justin Timberlake and Jason Segel; and Disney/Pixar’s Cars 2.

Estimated Top 10 North America Jun 17-19, 2011
Film (Dist) / Est wkd gross / Est total to date

1 (-) Green Lantern (Warner Bros) WBPI $52.7m –

2 (1) Super 8 (Paramount) PPI $21.3m $72.8m

3 (-) Mr Popper’s Penguins (Fox) Fox Int’l $18.2m –

4 (2) X-Men: First Class (Fox) Fox Int’l $11.5m $119.9m

5 (3) The Hangover Part II (Warner Bros) WBPI $9.6m $232.7m

6 (4) Kung Fu Panda 2 (Paramount/DreamWorks Animation) PPI $8.7m $143.3m

7 (6) Bridesmaids (Universal) UPI $7.5m $136.8m

8 (5) Pirates Of The Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (Buena Vista) WDSMPI $6.2m $220.3m

9 (8) Midnight In Paris (Sony Pictures Classics) Imagina $5.2m $21.8m

10 (7) Judy Moody And The NOT Bummer Summer (Relativity) FilmNation $ 2.2m $11.2m

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