( EW.com ) -- In the final weekend before Iron Man 3 kicks off the summer movie season in earnest , Michael Bay 's R-rated action comedy Pain & Gain topped a slow weekend at the box office with $ 20 million from 3,277 theaters , giving it an average of $ 6,103 per location . The Paramount film achieved only a fraction of the opening weekend grosses of Bay 's Transformers films , but it only cost a fraction — just $ 26 million — of those films as well . It 's well on its way to profitability . Pain & Gain , which stars Mark Wahlberg and Dwayne `` The Rock '' Johnson , redeemed both stars following unimpressive box office results for action films earlier this year . Wahlberg 's Broken City petered out with just $ 19.7 million , while Johnson 's Snitch fared only slightly better , grossing $ 42.1 million . While both those films had darker , more serious tones , Pain & Gain was marketed as a sunny , over-the-top black comedy . Unfortunately , audience reaction was n't particularly sunny . Polled moviegoers issued Pain & Gain a dreadful `` C+ '' CinemaScore . In second place , Tom Cruise 's sci-fi adventure Oblivion , which last week debuted with $ 37.1 million , dropped 53 percent to $ 17.4 million , giving it a 10-day total of $ 64.7 million . While the Universal film seems unlikely to reach Cruise 's one-time benchmark of $ 100 million domestically , its $ 134.1 million international total lifts prospects considerably . Still , a $ 198.8 million worldwide total versus a $ 120 million budget is n't an incredible result after accounting for distribution and marketing costs . Warner Bros. ' $ 40 million Jackie Robinson drama 42 scored another $ 10.7 million in its third weekend , representing a 40 percent decline . With a cumulative gross of $ 69.1 million so far , 42 is a big winner for Warner Bros. , which badly needed a hit following flops like Beautiful Creatures , Bullet to the Head , and Jack the Giant Slayer . Yet most analysts expected the film , which earned an `` A+ '' CinemaScore grade , to reach $ 100 million . That no longer seems plausible . 'Rocky ' musical headed to Broadway in '14 . Star-studded romantic comedy The Big Wedding flopped in its opening weekend , with just $ 7.5 million from 2,633 theaters , giving it a sad $ 2,848 per theater average . The $ 35 million Lionsgate release got off to a weaker start than other recent wedding titles like The Five-Year Engagement , License to Wed , and The Wedding Date — and all of those were considered misfires upon release . The Big Wedding , which features performances by Robert De Niro , Susan Sarandon , Robin Williams , Diane Keaton , Amanda Seyfried , Katherine Heigl , Topher Grace , and Ben Barnes , garnered wretched reviews from most critics , and audiences , which were 77 percent female and 66 percent above the age of 30 , gave it an ugly `` C+ '' CinemaScore . D.C. dinner : Spacey , Spielberg in spoofs . The Croods spent its sixth weekend in the Top 5 with $ 6.6 million ( a 29 percent drop ) , lifting the colorful Stone Age comedy to $ 163 million total . The Fox-distributed film , produced by DreamWorks Animation for $ 135 million , has carried even more cash into its cave internationally , and this weekend it passed the $ 300 million mark . Worldwide , The Croods has earned a terrific $ 471 million , and it will zoom right past the half-billion mark some time in the next two weeks . Unsurprisingly , a sequel is already in the works . 1 . Pain & Gain -- $ 20 million . 2 . Oblivion -- $ 17.4 million . 3 . 42 -- $ 10.7 million . 4 . The Big Wedding -- $ 7.5 million . 5 . The Croods -- $ 6.6 million . Despite the success of films like The Croods , Identity Thief , and Oz The Great and Powerful , the first third of 2013 has n't been a particularly good one at the box office . For the year to date , both attendance and revenue at the U.S. box office are down 12 percent , and Hollywood is now turning its attention to potential blockbusters like Iron Man 3 , Fast & Furious 6 , and Man of Steel to turn this year 's prospects around . Iron Man 3 , at least , seems like a safe bet . The superhero sequel debuted this weekend in 42 overseas territories ( about 79 percent of the international market ) , where it earned an incredible $ 195.3 million — a higher figure than The Avengers ' $ 185.1 million start . That figure is even more impressive when your realize that Iron Man 3 has yet to open in powerhouse territories like China , Russia , and Germany . Iron Man 3 achieved the best opening weekend ever in a number of Asian countries ( Hong Kong , Indonesia , Vietnam , Taiwan , Philippines , Malaysia , and Singapore ) , which is a testament to the continent 's booming box offices , but perhaps also to Disney 's efforts to tailor the picture to better appeal to Asian filmgoers . The film opens in the U.S. on Friday and is expected to open above $ 150 million . See the original article at EW.com . CLICK HERE to Try 2 RISK FREE issues of Entertainment Weekly . © 2011 Entertainment Weekly and Time Inc. All rights reserved .
`` Pain & Gain '' did well after unimpressive box office results for action films earlier this year . Tom Cruise 's `` Oblivion '' came in second . The film was a huge hit with critics and audiences, but it failed to make back its budget of $ 100 million dollars ( which is what the studio had said they would spend ). ` The Big Wedding '' flopped in its opening weekend .