Weekend Box Office Report: February 7-9, 2014

Last Updated on August 5, 2021

The Lego Movie is made of gold bricks!

This weekend marked the first time a blockbuster was made of actual blocks (well, computer-generated ones), as THE LEGO MOVIE opened at the top of the box office with $69.1 million!

The movie, budgeted at $60 million, was the second-biggest February opening ever (behind THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST's $83.8 million back in 2004), and the biggest opening yet for co-directors Chris Miller and Phil Lord, behind their 21 JUMP STREET ($36.3 million) and CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF MEATBALLS ($30.3 million).

Both audiences and critics adored how the pieces of THE LEGO MOVIE were assembled, giving the sharp family flick/toy commercial an 'A' CinemaScore and an average 95% on Rotten Tomatoes.

While the movie only features the voice of actor Chris Pratt, it could signal his impending box office domination — this August he stars in Marvel's GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY (which could already have a sequel in the works) before he stomps into theaters next summer with JURASSIC WORLD.

Despite some lackluster reviews (33% on Rotten Tomatoes), George Clooney's WWII movie THE MONUMENTS MEN placed a solid second with an opening of $22.7 million. Paying crowds gave a not-bad 'B+' CinemaScore to the artwork-rescue adventure, which also features Matt Damon, Cate Blanchett, John Goodman and Bill Murray.

The Ice Cube/Kevin Hart comedy RIDE ALONG, at #1 for the past three weeks, is coasting in third place with $9.3 million as it drives past the $100 million mark. And after three full months in theaters, Disney's FROZEN is still refusing to crack as it adds another $6.9 million, now up to $913 million worldwide on a potential path to a cool billion.

The R-rated romcom THAT AWKWARD MOMENT held on reasonably well in fifth with $5.5 million (a 36% drop from its opening), while LONE SURVIVOR continued blasting holes through the Taliban in sixth place with another $5.2 million.

After that was the latest young-adult novel adaptation VAMPIRE ACADEMY, which flopped in seventh place with an opening of $4.1 million (and a per-screen average lower than the ninth place JACK RYAN: SHADOW RECRUIT, which has been in release for a month). Moviegoers shrugged with a 'B-' CinemaScore, and critics thought it sucked (10% on Rotten Tomatoes), so it seems highly unlikely these teen bloodsuckers will launch a new movie franchise.

I, FRANKENSTEIN departed the chart along with AMERICAN HUSTLE and THE WOLF OF WALL STREET, which means there are now no longer any Best Picture contenders in the Top 10, although all nine nominees still playing on at least a few hundred screens in case audiences still need to catch up before the March 2nd Academy Awards ceremony.

Next weekend kicks off Valentine's Day with an update of the 1986 romcom ABOUT LAST NIGHT, the romance ENDLESS LOVE, the Colin Farrell fantasy WINTER'S TALE, and (on Wednesday) the glossy PG-13 remake of ROBOCOP.

Are you planning to check out the ROBOCOP remake next weekend? VOTE HERE!