By Chris Kavan - 02/14/11 at 12:12 AM CT
It's been awhile since there's been a battle at the box office, but luckily this week finally had some drama; at least when it came to who came out on top.
While Justin Bieber and his legion of fans may have came out strong on Friday, it was the one-two punch of Adam Sandler and Jennifer Aniston who won the war. The romantic comedy is officially back from the dead as Just Go With It was #1 with $31 million. While the total is on the low end for Adam Sandler openings, it was still his 11th #1 overall, and also a boost for Aniston who has had some rough openings lately.
Don't feel too bad for Bieber, though. His 3D concert film was barely behind with $30.3 million - much better than the Jonas Bros. and just behind Hannah Montana. The key word in the title is 3D, as 84% of business came from 3D screens. The audience - mostly younger and female - surprising I know! - gave high praise and an A+ score for the film.
The next two places were also filled by newcomers. The animated Gnomeo & Juliet, despite heavy competition, debuted strong with $25.5 million in 3rd. It surpassed Coraline's $16.8 million to become the highest earning animated film with a Jan.-Feb. opening. With quite a drought for family-friendly options at the theaters, it looks like parents had an excuse to get out of the house.
Fourth was another new film, The Eagle. The historical action / drama took in an estimated $8.6 million, better than The Last Legion and Pathfinder, but worse than Season of the Witch's $10.6 million opening.
Last week's new offerings both tumbled about 45%. The Roommate landed in 5th with $8.4 million and now stands at just over $26 million while Sanctum dropped to 8th with $5.1 million and a $17.5 million total.
Two Oscar hopefuls are standing strong in the top 10. Once again, The King's Speech had the best week-to-week holdovers, dropping only 4% to land in 6th place with $7.4 million and now stands at just under $94 million. Meanwhile, the Coen Brothers True Grit held on to 9th place with $3.77 million and has now made over $160 million in its run.
Three films will try to muscle in to the top spot this weekend: Liam Neeson wants to be anything but Unknown, I Am Number Four tries to do for aliens what Twilight did for vampires and Martin Lawrence gets a little backup going with Big Mommas: Like Father, Like Son. We'll see if audiences are ready for something new or something old.
Comments
John
John - wrote on 02/15/11 at 10:02 AM CT
Romantic comedy won the box office on Valentine's Day weekend? No, really? Should of mentioned that is why...
