The Grey gets the green!
A movie about people stranded in freezing weather may not seem like appealing escapism during the chilly month of January, but a chance to watch Liam Neeson battle voracious wolves in the Alaskan wilds was enough to propel THE GREY to the top this weekend with $20 million. Not quite the heights of Neeson’s last couple of winter-released actioners (TAKEN – $24.7M, UNKNOWN – $21.9M) but still a solid opening, especially considering the moderate budget (around $25M).
Kate Beckinsale’s leather-wrapped vampire was powerful enough to defeat Katherine Heigl, as UNDERWORLD: AWAKENINGS held second place with another $12.5M over ONE FOR THE MONEY’s $11.7M debut. The fourth in the bloodsuckers-vs.-lycanthropes series dropped 50% from last week, while Heigl’s latest has the dubious honor of a rare single-digit critic rating at Rotton Tomatoes.
Despite a strong cast, the heist thriller MAN ON A LEDGE couldn’t soar higher than the second weekend of RED TAILS. The Sam Worthington-led flick (supported by Ed Harris, Elizabeth Banks, Anthony Mackie and Jamie Bell) only managed an $8.3M opening for fifth place, while George Lucas’ Tuskegee Airmen story had some fuel left in the tank, dropping 44% from last week and collecting another $10.4M.
On the bottom half of the list, EXTREMELY LOUD & INCREDIBLY CLOSE did fairly well in its second week thanks to the recent Oscar nominations, losing just 28% from its wide release last weekend. And George Clooney’s THE DESCENDANTS popped back into the Top 10 with another $6.5M, bringing it close to $60M after 11 weeks in theaters (it finally expanded onto 2000 screens this weekend).
Mark Wahlberg’s action movie CONTRABAND seems to still have ammunition remaining, also coming up on the $60M mark (on a $25M investment), but Gina Carano’s HAYWIRE is just clinging to the chart. MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE – GHOST PROTOCOL finally makes its exit from the Top 10, while awards fave THE ARTIST still struggles to climb into it. Also of interest: TINKER TAILOR SOLDIER SPY has crossed $50M worldwide, somewhat impressive for a movie that while compelling, let’s be honest, largely consists of British guys having conversations.
Next weekend (Super Bowl!) starts kind of a depressing-looking month for releases with the dolphin drama BIG MIRACLE, the superpowered teen “found footage” thriller CHRONICLE, and the Daniel Radcliffe-starring horror movie THE WOMAN IN BLACK. What February release are you most looking forward to seeing? VOTE HERE!
| # | MOVIE TITLE | WKND $ | TOTAL $ |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Grey | $20 M | NEW |
| 2 | Underworld: Awakening | $12.5 M | $45.1 M |
| 3 | One for the Money | $11.7 M | NEW |
| 4 | Red Tails | $10.4 M | $33.7 M |
| 5 | Man on a Ledge | $8.3 M | NEW |
| 6 | The Descendants | $6.5 M | $58.8 M |
| 7 | Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close | $7.1 M | $21.1 M |
| 8 | Contraband | $6.5 M | $56.4 M |
| 9 | Beauty and the Beast 3D | $5.3 M | $41.1 M |
| 10 | Haywire | $4 M | $15.2 M |