Going into this weekend, I figured it had the potential to be pretty big. With the second weekend of Man of Steel and two potentially big openers in Monsters University and World War Z, this weekend had the ingredients to be huge, but I didn’t realize how huge. Led by monsters and zombies, this weekend’s top 12 amassed $230 million, which is the 8th biggest of all time.

Monsters University

Considering Monsters Inc. is one of Pixar’s most beloved films (and given their pedigree, that’s saying a lot), it was easy to see that the prequel would be big. Not Toy Story 3 big, but big nonetheless. Anyway, Monsters University debuted to an impressive $82 million. Given that kids’ flicks tend to have good legs, MU shouldn’t have trouble hitting $250 million and $300 million shouldn’t be much of a problem. MU didn’t quite have the rapturous reviews of Pixar flicks of old, but it was certainly a lot better than the nadir of Cars 2. Hopefully Pixar gets back on their A-game now.

Destroying almost all predictions, World War Z exploded with a stunning $66 million. I figured this would debut somewhere in the 40s, maybe crack $50 million. Instead, it had the second biggest opening weekend ever for a film that didn’t debut at number one. This film shows that the current zombie craze is at a fever pitch, and one has to wonder just how long they can ride this high. WWZ is already the third highest grossing zombie ever and will pass out current champ Zombieland by next weekend.

Collapsing 65%, Man of Steel pulled in $41.2 million and brought its total to $210 million. After its strong debut, I was hoping Supes could hold better, since I’d like to see this movie do well, but I think it just got kneecapped by the competition, particularly World War Z, which stole away a lot of its primary audience of young males. That said, I still think this one should cross $300 million, but it might be close.

Holding well, This is the End dropped 37% to $13 million. $57.8 million against a $32 million budget is quite solid. The surprise hit Now You See Me continues to show good stamina, easing 29% down to $7.9 million. At $94.5 million, it should cross $100 million by next weekend. Fast and Furious 6 followed in sixth place, down 51% to $4.7 million. $228 million in the bank for that crew.

Continuing its freefall from the public consciousness, The Internship dropped 52% and grossed $3.4 million, bringing the weak total to $38.4 million. Another film that has done nothing but fall hard, The Purge collapsed another 59% to $3.4 million. $59.4 million now and should end around $65 million. Star Trek Into Darkness fell 52% to $3 million, lifting the sum to $216 million.

Well, I thought we said goodbye to Iron Man 3 last weekend, but it actually managed to stay steady in tenth. Down 26%, Tony Stark made $2.2 million, for a total of $403 million. Well, that does it for this weekend, which ended up being extremely strong, due mostly in part to the unexpectedly huge debut of World War Z. Things should slow down next weekend with White House Down and The Heat, neither of which I think has a chance of breaking $40 million, but since I’ve really been low-balling things lately, maybe one of them will end up breaking $50 million. Anyway, until next weekend, guys.