Weekend Box Office Report: February 22-24 2013

Last Updated on August 2, 2021

Identity Thief snatches from Snitch!

Heavyweight action star Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson may have entered the ring this weekend, but the championship belt was nabbed by IDENTITY THIEF, victorious in a slow box office period with $14 million.

As it approaches the $100 million mark in its third week, the R-rated Jason Bateman/Melissa McCarthy comedy is, domestically speaking, also now the highest-grossing movie released in 2013. (The horror-thriller MAMA is second with $70.2 million).

Even with its PG-13 rating (and the highest per-screen average in the Top 10), SNITCH was pinned in second place with $13 million. For The Rock as headlining action star, that puts its opening weekend between FASTER ($8.3M) and WALKING TALL ($15.5M) — nowhere near his first solo outing THE SCORPION KING ($36M) or an ensemble like FAST FIVE ($86M). It’s even lower than comedies THE GAME PLAN ($22.9M) or TOOTH FAIRY ($14M). He’ll get another shot next month with G.I. JOE: RETALIATION, but it sure seems like a tough time to be an action star.

Just ask his fellow “Joe” Bruce Willis, whose latest A GOOD DAY TO DIE HARD plunged almost 60% in its second weekend, tumbling from first place down to fifth with $10 million. It’s performing far better than recent offerings from Willis’ fellow action veterans Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger, but it does also carry the advantage of brand recognition. While that DIE HARD name will likely be insufficient to get the movie to $100 million domestically, it’s already racked up $132 million from international audiences, so there’s little doubt that McClane will be back.

Thanks to a lack of alternatives for family entertainment at the multiplex, the computer-animated ESCAPE FROM PLANET EARTH stayed in orbit with $11 million (a 30% drop) for third place, followed closely by last weekend’s new romance SAFE HAVEN with $10.6 million.

The new PG-13 alien abduction thriller DARK SKIES opened down in sixth place with $8.8 million. Although that’s a low for director Scott Stewart, who previously brought us action-horror trash LEGION and PRIEST, the extraterrestrial terror only cost a meager $3.5 million to produce.

Three-and-a-half months since its initial (limited) release, SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK is still rolling along and has finally crossed the $100 million mark. It’s also the only Oscar nominee in the Top 10, although ARGO, ZERO DARK THIRTY, LIFE OF PI and LINCOLN are lingering just outside the chart. WARM BODIES is still lurching along after a month, but the new TWILIGHT-wannabe BEAUTIFUL CREATURES is about to disappear after two weeks.

Next weekend brings the R-rated comedy 21 AND OVER, director Bryan Singer’s big-budget 3D fairy tale JACK THE GIANT SLAYER, the demonic sequel THE LAST EXORCISM PART II, and Ed Harris/David Duchovny submarine thriller PHANTOM, plus the limited release of STOKER, from OLDBOY director Park Chan-wook.

What March release are you most looking forward to seeing? VOTE HERE!