Box Office, Weekend Box Office | featured news

It’s a generally-accepted expectation of new releases to reel in top numbers at the box office on their opening weekend—this week, that was not the case. This weekend, the top spot was occupied by a holdout from three weeks ago: Identity Thief, which pulled in $14 million, for a very respectable total of over $93.6 million, according to Box Office Mojo.

Despite the paltry reviews most of this last week’s releases received, they all made a somewhat respectable showing for themselves at the box office. First and foremost among the new releases is A Good Day to Die Hard, which grossed $25 million over the weekend, for a total of $33.2 million (as the film first opened in theaters on Valentine’s Day). As tired as the franchise is, it clearly has enough appeal to muster enough fans to make decent numbers on its opening weekend.

‘‘Identity Thief’’ has turned out to be the real thing at the North American box office. The comedy starring Jason Bateman and Melissa McCarthy debuted at No. 1 with a $36.6 million opening weekend, according to studio estimates Sunday. ‘‘Identity Thief’’ opened solidly despite the winter storm that buried much of the U.S. Northeast. Distributor Universal Pictures estimates the storm might have choked off as much as 10 percent of the movie’s business.

The box office grosses played out very predictably this weekend; this meant good news for one of this last week’s releases, and not-so-good news for the other.
Warm Bodies made the top of the box office chart with a total gross of a little over $20 million (numbers courtesy of Box Office Mojo); given that its ratings were probably better than those of the last two weeks’ other releases combined, this is hardly surprising.

Crime-thriller "Parker" -- pairing Jason Statham with Jennifer Lopez -- is likewise D.O.A. as a glut of R-rated films make life tough at the domestic box office... Paramount and MGM's action-comedy Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters topped the weekend chart with a $19 million opening but underperformed despite star Jeremy Renner and the upcharge for a 3D ticket. Hansel & Gretel, like other films, took a big hit Friday night because of a major snowstorm stretching from the Midwest to the Mid-Atlantic.

Jessica Chastain in a low-budget horror flick overpowered Mark Wahlberg and Arnold Schwarzenegger to emerge as the weekend box office champ.

It took Leatherface and his chainsaw to chase tiny hobbit Bilbo Baggins out of the top spot at the box office.

"The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey" continues to rule them all at the box office, staying on top for a third-straight week with nearly $33 million....

...Remaining at the top of the charts is The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, earning $36.7 million this weekend for an impressive total of over $149.8 million so far (numbers from Box Office Mojo). Though its earnings have dipped significantly since last weekend, it’s fair to say that it’ll remain in theaters—and perhaps at the top of the box office charts—for quite a while yet. Jack Reacher received the best numbers out of the new releases, pulling in $15.6 million this weekend. Though this falls short of the $18.5-$19 million prediction from HSX, compared to the earnings for some of the other releases, it’s certainly a respectable haul.

Peter Jackson's "The Hobbit" led the box office with a haul of $84.8 million, a record-setting opening better than the three previous "Lord of the Rings" films. The Warner Bros. Middle Earth epic was the biggest December opening ever, surpassing Will Smith's "I Am Legend," which opened with $77.2 million in 2007, according to studio estimates Sunday. "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey" also passed the December opening of "Avatar," which opened with $77 million. Internationally, "The Hobbit" also added $138.2 million, for an impressive debut well north of $200 million.