Bradley Cooper won the battle of the cinematic hunks as his Limitless took the weekend box office with an estimated $19 million, while Matthew McConaughey’s legal thriller The Lincoln Lawyer ended up in fourth place with an estimated $13.4 million. Greg Mottola’s science fiction comedy Paul, which stars Simon Pegg and Nick Frost ended up (for now—final numbers are out tomorrow) in fifth with an estimated $13.1 million. Overall the box office was down once again, with a 10% drop from the same weekend last year when Alice in Wonderland held strong for a third week with $34.2 million continuing a trend that has held true for most of the first quarter of 2011.
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Weekend Box Office (Studio Estimates): March 18 - 20, 2011 | ||||||
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|
Film |
Weekend Gross |
Screens |
Avg./ Screen |
Total Gross |
Wk# |
|
1 |
Limitless |
$19,000,000 |
2,756 |
$6,894 |
$19,000,000 |
1 |
|
2 |
Rango |
$15,315,000 |
3,843 |
$3,985 |
$92,577,000 |
3 |
|
3 |
Battle: Los Angeles |
$14,600,000 |
3,417 |
$4,273 |
$60,602,000 |
2 |
|
4 |
The Lincoln Lawyer |
$13,400,000 |
2,707 |
$4,950 |
$13,400,000 |
1 |
|
5 |
Paul |
$13,155,000 |
2,802 |
$4,695 |
$13,155,000 |
1 |
|
6 |
Red Riding Hood |
$7,255,000 |
3,030 |
$2,394 |
$25,962,000 |
2 |
|
7 |
The Adjustment Bureau |
$5,932,000 |
2,660 |
$2,230 |
$48,779,000 |
3 |
|
8 |
Mars Needs Moms |
$5,317,000 |
3,117 |
$1,706 |
$15,401,000 |
2 |
|
9 |
Beastly |
$3,260,000 |
1,810 |
$1,801 |
$22,245,000 |
3 |
|
10 |
Hall Pass |
$2,600,000 |
1,905 |
$1,365 |
$39,590,000 |
4 |
The “PG-13” rated Limitless, a sort of thinking man’s superhero movie that features a struggling writer who turns around his life thanks to wonder drug that allows him to utilize “all” of his brain, earned a solid “B+” from an audience that was slightly female (53%), older (60% 25 and over) and ethnically diverse (57% Non-Caucasian).
Lionsgate’s “R-rated” The Lincoln Lawyer earned a strong “A-“ CinemaScore and benefited from an innovative ticket coupon deal with Internet-based Groupon. A whopping 89% of those who attended with a coupon said that they wouldn’t have seen the film without the inducement of the coupon. Perhaps the $5 coupon, which allowed many to see the film for just $1, might have influenced perceptions of the movie?
Paul, which includes scenes filmed at the San Diego Comic-Con as well as fanboy staples such as Area 51 and the Devil’s Tower, earned a solid “B+” rating from its older (58% 25 and older) male (56%) audience. The raunchy $40 million comedy has already earned $28 million overseas.
Paramount’s animated feature Rango held well at #2, dipping just 32%, earning $15.3 million and bringing its total to $92.5 million. The Johnny Depp-starring toon will pass the $100 million mark later this week.
Last week’s winner, the science fiction/action film Battle Los Angeles dropped 59% in its second weekend, which unfortunately is about par for the course for highly-hyped action movies.
Disney’s $185 million motion-capture animated Mars Needs Moms managed a fairly solid hold. The Berkeley Breathed-based movie was down just 23%, but its opening last week was so disastrous that this week’s take was a meager $5.3 million. The film has earned only $15.4 million domestically and just $3.4 internationally in ten days of release.
Next weekend Zack Snyder’s genre-mash-up Sucker Punch and Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Roderick Rules will attempt to get the 2011 box office back on track.