Weekend Box Office Report: February 8-10 2013

Identity Thief runs away with the cash!

While parts of the Northeast were literally shut down this weekend thanks to the OMFG Blizzard of the Century  (two feet of snow here outside Boston!), the rest of the country went out looking for laughs, putting IDENTITY THIEF at the top of the box office with $36.5 million.

The new R-rated comedy, which reunited star Jason Bateman with his HORRIBLE BOSSES director Seth Gordon and paired the actor with BRIDESMAIDS breakout Melissa McCarthy, survived both the wrathful weather and a critical hammering (24% on Rotten Tomatoes) to make back its reported production budget in a single weekend.

Last week’s winner WARM BODIES hung on pretty well (particularly for genre material), gnawing on #2 with another $11.5 million. Nicholas Hoult’s amorous zombie shuffled along quickly enough to keep ahead of director Steven Soderbergh’s supposed theatrical swan song, the new psychological/pharmaceutical thriller SIDE EFFECTS, which placed third with $10 million.

SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK finally relinquished its hold on #3, slipping a spot as it lurches toward an inevitable $100 million (and well beyond, especially if it grabs an Oscar or two on the 24th). HANSEL AND GRETEL: WITCH HUNTERS is at $43.8 million after three weeks (plus almost twice that from overseas crowds), while Jessica Chastain continues duelling with herself in the next two spots with MAMA and ZERO DARK THIRTY.

Perhaps the week’s biggest surprise (outside of Sly’s latest shoot-em-up managing to stay in the Top 10 for two weeks) is the return of ARGO, which is taking advantage of its awards momentum to reappear on the chart in eighth with $2.5 million, just ahead of fellow Oscar nominee DJANGO UNCHAINED. While Ben Affleck’s adored thriller closes in on a $200 million global total, Tarantino’s new one is officially the filmmaker’s biggest yet, hitting $341.6 million worldwide and passing INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS’ $321.5M total.

Outside the chart, LINCOLN, LES MISERABLES and PARKER have all ducked out of sight while the 3D and IMAX re-release of 80s fave TOP GUN took off with $1.9 million, just short of BULLET IN THE HEAD‘s take (despite launching on only 300 screens compared to Stallone’s 2400).

Next weekend offers the young adult fantasy BEAUTIFUL CREATURES, the romance SAFE HAVEN, and John McClane’s Russian adventure A GOOD DAY TO DIE HARD (all on Thursday, for your Valentine’s Day pleasure), plus the 3D computer-animated sci-fi comedy ESCAPE FROM PLANET EARTH.

What’s your favorite R-rated comedy of the last decade? VOTE HERE!