Each of this weekend’s big new releases bombed and all three of last week’s romance flicks plummeted in attendance this week, leaving ‘The Lego Movie’ to continue stacking up success. In its third weekend, the family film only fell 36% and raked in another $31.4 million. After 17 days, it has earned an impressive $183.1 million domestically.
Luc Besson and McG’s action comedy ‘3 Days to Kill‘ debuted in the #2 spot with $12.3 million. That’s not only lower than the similarly-themed ‘Taken’ movies (the first ‘Taken’ opened to $24 million and the second to $49 million), but also lower than the $14 million opening of Besson’s last production, ‘The Family‘. However, with audiences that skew slightly older than usual, it may hold over better than expected.
The $100 million-budgeted ‘Pompeii‘ was a bigger disaster than the actual events depicted in the movie. OK, not really, but I couldn’t help myself from making the comparison. Is its $10 million debut a sign that the disaster genre is dead? Probably not. Most of director Paul W.S. Anderson’s non-‘Resident Evil‘ movies have tanked at the box office. Luckily for the studio, ‘Pompeii’ is pulling better numbers overseas.
‘RoboCop‘ slipped a position in the rankings, closing its second weekend with $9.4 million. Through its 12-day run, the remake has earned $43.6 million domestically and $100 million overseas.
In fifth place was George Clooney’s critically-panned World War II throwback ‘The Monuments Men‘. With $8.1 million in its third weekend, the film’s 17-day total is up to $58 million. ‘Monuments Men’ is also playing well overseas.
Hayao Miyazaki’s ‘The Wind Rises‘ performed very well in limited release, most likely due to film fanatics trying to see it before next weekend’s Oscar ceremonies. From 21 screens, the imaginative film earned $306,000.
On 266 screens, the sexy and scandalous period piece drama ‘In Secret‘ didn’t fare so well, only earning $272,000.
Of note, ‘The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug’ opened to a massive $32.7 million in China this weekend. All told, Peter Jackson’s prequel-sequel is less than $7 million away from crossing the $900 million mark worldwide.
Top 10:
1. ‘The Lego Movie’ (Warner Bros.) – $31,450,000
2. ‘3 Days to Kill’ (Relativity) – $12,300,000
3. ‘Pompeii’ (TriStar) – $10,010,000
4. ‘RoboCop’ (Sony) – $9,400,000
5. ‘The Monuments Men’ (Sony) – $8,100,000
6. ‘About Last Night’ (Screen Gems) – $7,400,000
7. ‘Ride Along’ (Universal) – $4,667,000
8. ‘Frozen’ (Buena Vista) – $4,357,000
9. ‘Endless Love’ (Universal) – $4,301,000
10. ‘Winter’s Tale’ (Warner Bros.) – $2,130,000
Chris
How bankable of a star is Costner these days after all? Does he have any kind of box office draw the way he did in the 90’s? No wonder it tanked.
TJL
Every garbage movie “plays well overseas”. Does everyone outside North America have awful taste?
Trond Michelsen
Well… If everybody tells you that you’re wrong, there are usually only two options:
– Everybody else are wrong
– You are wrong
So, I’d argue that it’s actually the North Americans that’s got an awful taste in movies 😉
Julian
Yes. Yes, we do have awful taste 😉
Sorry!
Timcharger
Luke: “Of note, ‘The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug’ opened to a massive $32.7 million in China this weekend.”
It’s curious that number is spread over 5,500 screens. So that’s less than $6K per screen.
Back of the envelope… what is that? Movie tickets are equivalent to $3-ish bucks.
Timcharger
“back of the envelope…”
I meant:
back of the napkin…
(I must be thinking of upcoming award shows.)
Timcharger
I, an old dog, learned something new today.
Both phrases are valid.
I like the napkin phrase better; it sounds more like we’re at a bar, enjoying some drinks.
🙂