It was an ugly weekend at the U.S. box office. The top three films had a combined critical average of 18%. While the films were hardly critical darlings, financially it was a robust weekend.A Good Day to Die Hard debuted in the number one spot with a decent, yet uninspiring $25 million. The franchise has seen better days, but I'm guessing the international take will justify its existence. With a budget of $92 million dollars, the fifth Die Hard film is a low-risk proposition. There's been a lot of talk about the diminishing quality of the franchise but let's be honest: The first Die Hard is a classic. Every subsequent entry has been a cartoonish cut-and-paste style action film. The entire premise of a guy in the wrong place at the wrong time has been traded in for an inhuman super action hero who cheats death with the frequency of Keith Richards.
I'm not really offended by the photocopied Die Hard sequels. They're inoffensive action movies trading on a recognizable brand. What I find amusing is the number of generic action movies are being anchored by a bald Bruce Willis. Truth be told, Bruce Willis in A Good Day to Die Hard looks no different than Bruce Willis in G.I. Joe: Retaliation or Red 2. Or in last year's The Expendables 2. I've got nothing against Willis, but like his fellow bald action star Jason Statham, I can only take so much of the same before I start to lose interest. Right now, the wisecracking bald senior citizen with a machine gun is on life support.
The comedy Identity Thief took second place with a strong second week bringing in $23 million. The 30% week over week drop is remarkable given the absolute critical sandblasting. Audiences are making a strong declaration: they like Melissa McCarthy, even if Rex Reed doesn't.
Safe Haven was the number three movie this week with an estimated $21 million for the weekend. The critically maligned romantic drama seemed like a shoe in for the De facto date movie for the Valentine's Day weekend. However, more people seemed interested in Bruce Willis blowing up Russia and Melissa McCarthy acting the fool. The annual Nicholas Sparks adaptation continues to be a good bet financially, even if the finished product is really, really bad.
The CG animated Escape from Planet Earth opened in fourth place, in spite of soft marketing. Since there's not a lot of family programming in the marketplace, Escape managed a $15 million opening. There's something to be said for filling the void. This low cost animated feature should be a financial win for The Weinstein Company.
The real casualty this weekend was the supernatural romance Beautiful Creatures. Apparently the world isn't ready for Twilight clones. The Emily Rossum film managed only $7 million in its opening weekend which wasn't enough to crack the top five. Is there anybody saddened by this outcome?
Next week provides two wide released. Dwayne "No longer the Rock" Johnson stars in the action thriller Snitch, while Keri Russel leads the alien themed horror film Dark Skies. I'm guessing neither film has the juice to make it to number one. It'll be a four way race for the number one spot, probably with a weekend haul of less than $20 million. See you next week.
Here's your top films for North America...
1. A Good Day to Die Hard
Weekend Estimate: $25 million; $33 million total
2. Identity Thief
Weekend Estimate: $23 million; $70 million total
3. Safe Haven
Weekend Estimate: $21 million; $30 million
4. Escape from Planet Earth
Weekend Estimate: $15 million
5. Warm Bodies
Weekend Estimate: $9 million; $50 million total
Anghus Houvouras