Weekend Box Office: January 18-20, 2013

Big Mama!

Actress Jessica Chastain is probably feeling pretty damn good right now — she’s a Golden Globes winner, an Oscar nominee, and the star of two movies at the top of the box office. (Expect someone’s asking price to go up!)

Her latest release MAMA took the #1 spot this weekend with $28.1 million. The PG-13 supernatural frightener was shepherded by producer/horror maestro Guillermo del Toro, and considering its mere $15M budget, he and studio Universal must be plenty pleased. It’s already performed better than the filmmaker’s last “Guillermo del Toro Presents” release, the remake DON’T BE AFRAID OF THE DARK, which ended up with $24M total.

Chastain actually knocked herself off the top — last weekend’s winner ZERO DARK THIRTY came in second place with another $17.6 million, pushing it to a $55.9M total after two weeks in wide release. With the Oscar nominations (and ongoing controversy), the movie should see decent business for a few more weeks.

Speaking of awards, David O. Russell’s comedy-drama SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK benefitted from nominations, star Jennifer Lawrence’s Golden Globes win, and the wide expansion into 2500 locations (it’s been in limited release since November 16th). The movie placed third over the weekend, adding $11.3 million onto its slow climb to $55.3M.

GANGSTER SQUAD slipped one spot since last week to fourth with $9.1 million (putting it just over halfway back to its $60M cost), ahead of the new Mark Wahlberg/Russell Crowe thriller BROKEN CITY in fifth. January was much kinder to Wahlberg last year, when CONTRABAND opened to $24.3M and went on to $66.5M.

The cheapie horror spoof A HAUNTED HOUSE squeaked ahead of DJANGO UNCHAINED, which has been grappling with LES MISERABLES since they were both released on Christmas Day (Tarantino’s latest just began its international run, bringing in $48M from overseas crowds). And with the federal Martin Luther King, Jr. Day observed on Monday in the US, all the movies on the chart will get an extra day to pull in crowds who have time off from work and school.

As for Arnold Schwarzenegger’s big return to starring roles, part of the title was correct — THE LAST STAND collapsed in last place with just $6.3 million. Given that wheezing performance, it will be interesting to see how Arnie’s fellow action veterans Sylvester Stallone and Bruce Willis make out when their own solo features BULLET TO THE HEAD and A GOOD DAY TO DIE HARD arrive in February (not to mention younger competitor Dwayne Johnson in SNITCH).

Next weekend brings the long-delayed fairy tale action flick HANSEL & GRETEL: WITCH HUNTERS, Jason Statham as novelist Donald Westlake’s tough guy PARKER, and an all-star cast goofing around in the R-rated short film collection MOVIE 43.

Of the Oscar nominees for Best Picture, what’s your personal favorite (not necessarily to win)? VOTE HERE!