'Lee Daniels' The Butler' continues to rule the box office

Word of mouth is a powerful thing. When it comes to major movies, a good word of mouth can help a film continue to dominate at the box office. That, in part, is what I think is happening with Lee Daniels' The Butler. People are seeing it, loving it, and telling everyone they know to go (and those people are listening). The Butler isn't the only summer film that's being buoyed by positive audience reactions: Several other movies, some "blockbusters," some not, have benefited from great word of mouth reviews as well.

Before I tackle the rest of the summer box office, let's discuss the current results: For the second weekend in a row, The Butler took the top spot over the weekend, taking in an estimated $17 million. I've already weighed in with my review of this movie (hint: I liked it), and I'm not surprised that once again, this film was the big winner. Over the weekend, I spent some time at my local neighborhood pool, where I took an informal poll about what movies everyone was seeing, and whether they liked them. Guess what? The answer was a resounding "Oh my gosh yes!" for The Butler.

Now, let's take a look at the rest of the weekend box office: Once again, the raunchy Jennifer Aniston/Jason Sudeikis comedy We're the Millers took the number two spot, taking in $13.5 million. This film has proven to have major staying power, and despite some pretty iffy reviews, audiences are flocking to see it. Word of mouth? Possibly. Three newcomers this weekend failed to overthrow last week's number one and two films, though The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones was the strongest challenger. Mortal Instruments still only managed third place, with a dismal $9.3 million. So much for this franchise becoming the next big YA thing, huh?

The British comedy The World's End did pretty well, coming in fourth with $8.9 million. Fans of Simon Pegg, Edgar Wright and Nick Frost turned out strong for this one. And Disney's Planes was fifth at the weekend box office, taking in $8.5 million. The family-friendly films are falling off now that many of the kiddos are back in school, it seems.

Just last week, I wondered whether the indie horror/home invasion movie You're Next could pull the big box office numbers. Horror fans are definitely loyal, but it seems, at least right now, that even good reviews for this movie didn't get them into theaters to see it. You're Next finished a dismal seventh at the weekend box office, taking in just over $7 million. It seems the success of other summer horror films this season (The Conjuring, The Purge) did not rub off on You're Next.

I also want to note that Woody Allen's very well-received movie Blue Jasmine expanded into more theaters over the weekend, and audiences responded: Blue Jasmine took in a respectable $4.3 million - enough, I hope, to warrant another expansion. I really want to see this movie. As far as word of mouth, it's quite strong: My friends who are fortunate enough to live in major metro areas that are showing Blue Jasmine tell me it's one of Woody's best movies and certainly one of his most relevant to the times.

Is 2013 the summer of the box office bomb, at least domestically? It sure seems that way. Some of the biggest disasters include The Lone Ranger, After Earth, White House Down and R.I.P.D. Recently, Kick-Ass 2 has struggled, and the thriller Paranoia, starring Harrison Ford, was his worst movie debut ever. Are audiences staying away from the theaters? No, they aren't. We're all still seeing films in theaters as much as we always have - and possibly more. Variety points out that some are calling the summer of 2013 the "best ever at the domestic box office," despite the high-profile bombs.

What's going on, then? Well, I think we're just steering clear of some poorly-reviewed movies and opting instead for what we really want: A decent-enough film that's built on a solid-enough storyline. We love the franchise films and the sequels, because we know (for the most part) exactly what we're getting. Oh, and we totally still love Brad Pitt. World War Z cracked the $500 million mark worldwide in early-August, becoming Pitt's most successful movie globally.

I'm sure I'll have much more to say in coming weeks about how films fared over the summer 2013 blockbuster season, but for now, even with the big bombs, I'd say it isn't time (yet) to sound the death knell of the blockbuster business.

Which summer movies did you like the most? Which ones disappointed? I'd love to hear about your experiences in the comments.

Photos courtesy of CNN.com, The Hollywood Reporter and Cinema Blend