Possibly pulling off what nobody thought would happen happened, Safe House took control after leading on Saturday and Sunday, and narrowly swiped the top spot away from The Vow, easing 31% over the four-day weekend to $27.5 million ($23.6 million, -41% for the three-day), for a per-theater average of a great $8,825 from around 4,000 screens at 3,121 theaters. Thanks to its' positive word-of-mouth, the Denzel Washington thriller has earned a strong $82.6 million in 11 days, which is just $600,000 behind his biggest blockbuster hit American Gangster through the same point. Safe House was also marked the first time a holdover topped the President's Day frame since 2005's Hitch. It has become a huge winner for distributor Universal Pictures, who has kicked off their 100th year in film business on a good note.
Although it was in first on Friday and was well-positioned to repeat at the top, The Vow ended up backing down to second, as it eased 35% over the four-day frame to $26.6 million ($23.1 million, -44% over the three-day), for a stronger 11-day tally of $88.6 million and averaging a still very potent $9,006 from around 3,700 screens at 2,958 theaters. The film has passed the final grosses of Dear John and The Notebook to become distributor Screen Gems biggest-grossing film ever and is expected to be the first film of the year to cross the $100 million milestone domestically. The film still does have a shot at beating Safe House for the three-day weekend, as the margin between the two is still close enough that they could end up switching spots when actuals are reported.
Journey 2: The Mysterious Island held onto the third spot for the four-day, and held the best out of the Top 10 with just a 5% slide to $25.9 million ($19.8 million, fourth place and -27% for the three-day and taking the top spot on Monday), for a per-theater average of a good $7,410 from around 5,800 screens at 3,500 theaters and has earned a strong $59.1 million in 11 days. That's far ahead of the original Journey through the same point, and has earned nearly $130 million overseas. With no new competition next weekend, the film has an excellent shot at closing past the $100 million mark domestically and past the $300 million mark worldwide.
In the first real big disappointment this year, Nicolas Cage couldn't save himself from a bad box office tracking record with Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance, which had to settle for fourth place with just $25.5 million over the four-day weekend ($22.1 million, third place for the three-day), for a per-theater average of a good $8,025 from around 5,100 screens at 3,174 theaters (65% of sales were from 3D presentations). That was about half of the original Ghost Rider's $52.1 million four-day, and was given mediocre reception from audiences ("C+" CinemaScore), which doesn't indicate good legs. The original film was disliked by audiences and critics anyway, so the reason why a sequel came along is very much unknown. The film was produced for $57 million by distributor Columbia Pictures, which should easily be surpassed with overseas grosses, so at least it won't be a total disaster.
That leaves romance action comedy This Means War in the fifth spot. The Reese Witherspoon flick opened in line with expectations with $20 million over the four-day ($17.4 million over the three-day), for a per-theater average of a decent $6,274 from around 3,700 screens at 3,189 theaters. That is far from being a bad number by any means, but its' not strong either since a lot of this years' films have opened to $20 million or more on traditional three-day weekends. But, despite negative critical reception, it still earned positive attention from audiences ("A-" CinemaScore grade), which could bode well in the weeks ahead. The film got off to a strong $11 million start overseas and was produced for $65 million by distributor 20th Century Fox.
Following its' solid debut last weekend, Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (3D) fell hard, a 56% collapse to $9.9 million for the four-day ($8 million, -65% for the three-day) and sixth place, for a $35.8 million tally in 11 days. That's closer to Beauty and the Beast's 3D re-release through the same point and questions how front-loaded these re-issues are after opening weekend. Right now, a finish in the $45-$50 million range is looking likely, lower than expected but still not bad considering this is the least-liked among all six Star Wars movies. Thanks to this re-release, the lifetime gross for Menace has gone up to $467 million, becoming the biggest-grossing among all six Star Wars movies domestically (passing the fourth installment earlier this week). It also has become the fourth-highest grossing movie of all-time domestically, and just yesterday became just the 11th film in history to cross the $1 billion mark worldwide.
Super Bowl weekend holdover Chronicle followed with a great hold despite all the competition, down 24% over the four-day to $9.2 million ($7.6 million, -37% for the three day), and seventh place for a solid $52.6 million gross in 18 days. The found footage flick is heading for a $65 million finish.
The final new release, Studio Ghibli's animated film The Secret World of Arrietty debuted in eighth place for the four-day with $8.7 million ($6.4 million and ninth place for the three-day), for a per-theater average of a modest $5,706 from 1,522 theaters. That was much higher than what analysts' were expecting (a lot of them predicted it would only gross around $5 million for the four-day), and it nearly doubled Ponyo's $4.1 million four-day debut, but that one had less promotion and was just in around 900 theaters. Based on the 1952 children's book The Borrowers, the only hand-drawn animated film this year recieved acclaim from critics (92% on Rotten Tomatoes). Produced for $23 million, the film was distributed stateside by Disney.
Horror flick The Woman in Black continued to hold very well with a 23% ease over the four-day to $7.8 million ($6.7 million, -34% and ninth place for the three-day), and has earned $46.4 million in 18 days. Daniel Radcliffe's first non-Harry Potter flick should go on to gross around $55 million domestic. Liam Neeson's The Grey rounds out the Top 10 in its' fourth week of release with a 26% ease over the four-day to $3.7 million ($3.1 million, -38% for the three-day), for a $48.6 million gross in 25 days. While not earning as much as his previous action headliners, it should still do fine with a $55 million finish.
Overall box office for the four-day weekend was up 11% from the same time last year when Liam Neeson's Unknown topped the box office with a good $25.5 million over the four-day weekend ($21.9 million over three). The Taken-like film would go on to gross over $60 million stateside and $130 million worldwide. Just $30,000 behind in second, Gnomeo and Juliet replicated its' opening weekend over the four-day frame, with $25.4 million ($19.2 million three-day). The what looked to be highly-anticipated action flick I Am Number Four took third place with $22.6 million over the four-day ($19.4 million over three), on its' way to $55 million stateside and $140 million worldwide. Just Go with It followed with a 29% ease to $21.6 million over the four-day ($18.5 million over the three-day), and drag-dressing threequel Big Momma's House 3: Like Father, Like Son debuted with mixed results in fifth place with $18.7 million over the four-day ($15 million over three), on its' way to just shy of $40 million stateside and over $80 million worldwide, both franchise lows.
Here is the final Top 10 for the three-day and four-day:
# Movie 3-Day Actuals 3-Day Estimates 4-Day Actuals 4-Day Estimates 3-Day Predictions 4-Day Predictions
1 Safe House $23,641,575 $24,000,000 $27,542,825 $28,400,000 $18,000,000 $22,500,000
2 The Vow $23,065,077 $23,600,000 $26,640,786 $26,600,000 $19,000,000 $24,000,000
3 Journey 2: The $19,845,282 $20,085,000 $25,934,109 $26,400,000 $20,000,000 $26,500,000
Mysterious Island
4 Ghost Rider: $22,115,334 $22,000,000 $25,470,773 $25,700,000 $27,000,000 $33,000,000
Spirit of Vengeance
5 This Means War $17,405,930 $17,550,000 $20,006,912 $20,400,000 $17,000,000 $21,000,000
6 Star Wars: Episode I - $7,966,431 $7,865,000 $9,920,675 $10,150,000 $14,000,000 $18,500,000
The Phantom Menace
(3D)
7 Chronicle $7,619,383 $7,500,000 $9,164,061 $9,200,000 $5,000,000 $7,000,000
8 The Secret World of $6,446,395 $6,400,000 $8,684,864 $8,102,000 $5,000,000 $7,500,000
Arrietty
9 The Woman in Black $6,679,196 $6,645,000 $7,794,176 $7,815,000 $4,500,000 $6,500,000
10 The Grey $3,142,111 $3,032,000 $3,717,234 $3,768,000 ---- ----
