Weekend Box Office Report

Weekend Box Office Report

Movie News

By our guest blogger, Joe Oliveto

Never underestimate the power of a kids’ movie at the box office. With little to choose from at the theater this weekend, audiences across America made “Gnomeo and Juliet” the number one movie in the country—an impressive feat, considering the fact that it was at the number three spot last week. Movies usually fall in box office performance, not rise. Maybe positive word of mouth is behind this?

In the meantime, the new Owen Wilson pseudo-rom-com “Hall Pass” debuted in a respectable second place, earning close to $13.5 million. The Liam Neeson thriller “Unknown,” which previously held the top spot last week, fell to third place this weekend, fortunately defeating Adam Sandler’s “Just Go With It.” After touching work in pictures like “Punch Drunk Love” and “Funny People,” it’s a little depressing to see Sandler returning to forgettable material like this.

Perhaps the biggest disappointment—although the word “disappointment” implies surprise, and we’re not too shocked with this one—came in the form of “Drive Angry,” a new Nicolas Cage picture that debuted in ninth place. That means more people went to see the third installment of the “Big Momma’s House” saga than this movie. That poor guy needs to find some decent roles again.

Overall, a fairly typical February weekend at the box office. “The King’s Speech” is still alive, and it will be interesting to see how it fares this week, given its recent win at the Oscars. We’ll keep an eye on it.