Kick-Ass 2 – the follow up to 2010’s smash hit Kick-Ass – was expected to build up on its predecessor’s success by dominating the box office. But a slew of negative reviews have led to a fourth place finish, lagging behind Lee Daniel’s The Butler - starring Forest Whitaker.

Forest WhitakerWhitaker is The Butler - Cecil Gaines - in Lee Daniel's The Butler

The Civil Rights drama grabbed an impressive $25m on its opening weekend, possibly due to an all-star cast featuring Oprah Winfrey and Cuba Gooding Jr. and possibly due to a strong set of reviews. Either way, Lee Daniels will be delighted with the early response to his film.

Conversely, Kick Ass 2 and Chloe Moretz will be disappointed with the way the highly-anticipated sequel has been received. $13.5m for such a high profile movie isn’t good news, and thoughts will likely be turning to a Hit Girl (Moretz) spin-off rather than Kick Ass 3. More embarrassing for the comic-book flick: We’re The Millers and Elysium – the two films above them in second the third respectively – were in their second week of release.

The comedy, featuring Jason Sudekis and Jennifer Aniston, grabbed $17.7m while the Matt Damon sci-fi epic, from District 9 director Niell Blomkamp, managed $13.6m

Chloe Moretz as Hit GirlChloe Moretz as Hit Girl - considered the best thing about Kick Ass 2... Spin off?

The top five was rounded off by the John Cleese-voiced Disnet film Planes, which dropped two places to fifth in its second week with $13.1m. Ashton Kutcher’s Jobs built upon some awful reviews with a seventh place finish, disappointing ORF with $6.7m. Figures courtesy of Boxofficemojo.com.