Weekend Box Office Report: February 26-28 2014

By Kip Mooney • On • In News News 0

 

BOX OFFICE REPORT February 26-28, 2014(estimates from BoxOfficeMojo.com)

TOP 51. Non-Stop ($30.0 million)2. Son of God ($26.5 million)3. The LEGO Movie ($21.0 million)4. Monuments Men ($5.0 million)5. 3 Days to Kill ($4.9 million)

Gravity may have snatched up most of the Academy Awards this Sunday, but it was Liam Neeson who delivered the goods on Oscar weekend. His airborne action flick Non-Stop finished in first place with an estimated $30 million. That's his biggest debut yet for a movie that wasn't already based on something (topping previous No. 1's like Taken, Unknown and The Grey) 

Son of God was close behind with $26.5 million. It's the second-biggest debut for a faith-based film, trailing only The Passion of Christ. While that film had a much wider appeal, this appealed almost exclusively to the church-going crowd. I'd be shocked if the film topped $100 million, but it should do well throughout the lenten season. 

The LEGO Movie dropped out of the top spot since its debut four weeks ago, but did cross the $200 million mark, becoming the first 2014 film to do so. A sequel has already been announced for 2017.

Outside the top 5: - This Weekend's Indie Champ: The Lunchbox, the epic romance from India. It made $51,300 on only three screens. 

- Your Best Picture winner, 12 Years a Slave, officially crossed $50 million this weekend. Expect many reluctant potential audience members to finally give in this week, or at least check it out on DVD on Tuesday. 

- To add to its two Oscars, Frozen can now claim to be the 18th member of the $1 Billion Club.

Next week: A very belated sequel to 300 arrives from a very unexpected person (Noam Murro, director of the witty comedy Smart People). Rise of an Empire should dominate with at least $40 million. Mr. Peabody & Sherman should do fine with around $25 million, but it won't match the success of The LEGO Movie.

 

 

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About Kip Mooney

Kip Mooney
Like many film critics born during and after the 1980s, my hero is Roger Ebert. The man was already the best critic in the nation when he won the Pulitzer in 1975, but his indomitable spirit during and after his recent battle with cancer keeps me coming back to read not only his reviews but his insightful commentary on the everyday. But enough about a guy you know a lot about. I knew I was going to be a film critic—some would say a snob—in middle school, when I had to voraciously defend my position that The Royal Tenenbaums was only a million times better than Adam Sandler’s remake of Mr. Deeds. From then on, I would seek out Wes Anderson’s films and avoid Sandler’s like the plague. Still, I like to think of myself as a populist, and I’ll be just as likely to see the next superhero movie as the next Sundance sensation. The thing I most deplore in a movie is laziness. I’d much rather see movies with big ambitions try and fail than movies with no ambitions succeed at simply existing. I’m also a big advocate of fun-bad movies like The Room and most of Nicolas Cage’s work. In the past, I’ve written for The Dallas Morning News and the North Texas Daily, which I edited for a semester. I also contributed to Dallas-based Pegasus News, which in the circle of life, is now part of The Dallas Morning News, where I got my big break in 2007. Eventually, I’d love to write and talk about film full-time, but until that’s a viable career option, I work as an auditor for Wells Fargo. I hope to one day meet my hero, go to the Toronto International Film Festival, and compete on Jeopardy. Until then, I’m excited to share my love of film with you.

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