This weekend proved to be one of those rare alignments in the tastes of both the critical consensus and the mainstream rabble we like to refer to as "the audience." Critics (myself among them) showed quite a bit of unexpected fondness for Joe Carnahan's Liam Neeson-fronted survivalist epic, The Grey, and audiences came together and showed just as much affection, launching the film to the number one spot with $20 million for the weekend. For those keeping score at home, that's Liam Neeson's third #1 opening in the first quarter of the year in the last four years. Suffice it to say, the transformation is complete. Liam Neeson is an actual, honest-to-god action star.
Speaking of honest-to-god action stars--namely, those who are not those things--the other sort of success story of the weekend was the Katherine Heigl bounty hunting comedy One for the Money, a film that's been in developmental hell for the better part of the last 20 years, and only came to fruition when someone at a studio basically said, "Fuck it, what's Katherine Heigl doing right now?" and then just made the stupid thing. Most had predicted the movie would make little more than $5 million for the entire weekend, but it more than exceeded those absolutely paltry expectations, with a third place finish and $11.8 million. Yes, that's something of a qualified success, when all you've done is proved a bunch of people who said your movie would fail worse than even Man on a Ledge, but hey, a victory's a victory.
Speaking of Man on a Ledge, Man on a Ledge failed. Horribly. Spectacularly, even. It placed fifth, but with a lower number even than last week's fifth place debut, Haywire. $8.3 million is exceedingly low for a thriller starring Sam Worthington, an actor Hollywood seems to believe we actually care about. Granted, the convoluted premise and brutal reviews probably didn't help matters, but still. Ouch.
Before we go on to the top ten list, a quick look at some of the movies that got the much-desired "Oscar bump" this weekend. These are the films that see huge gains in box office after receiving their respective nominations from the Academy. The biggest benefactor was Alexander Payne's The Descendants, which skyrocketed from well out of the top ten back in with a number 7 finish and a 176% increase in total revenue--yes, I know you technically can't "beat" 100%, but shut up. Next behind that, I'm pleased to say, was Martin Scorsese's Hugo, which didn't quite crack the top 10, but still saw a 142.6% boost from its previous week. Albert Nobbs, The Artist, A Separation, and Best Documentary Feature nominee Pina also saw noteworthy gains, while perennial punching bag Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close managed to only lose a small amount of business from the previous week, which is almost like a victory, except it totally isn't.
And with that, onto the top ten, which looks considerably different from last week.
 | 1. The Grey $20 million / NEW |
 | 2. Underworld: Awakening $12.5 million / $45.1 million |
 | 3. One for the Money $11.8 million / NEW |
 | 4. Red Tails $10.4 million / $33.8 million |
 | 5. Man on a Ledge $8.3 million / NEW |
 | 6. Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close $7.2 million / $21.1 million |
 | 7. The Descendants $6.7 million / $58.8 million |
 | 8. Contraband $6.5 million / $56.4 million |
 | 9. Beauty and the Beast $5.3 million / $41.1 million |
 | 10. Haywire $4 million / $15.3 million |
Dropped Out: Mission: Impossible: Ghost Protocol; Joyful Noise; Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows; The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo
Source: Box Office Mojo
Good God, please let Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close go away so I don't have to see that creepy-as-fuck mannequin photoshopped poster!
I'm glad Liam Neeson is doing well, can't wait to see it.
Just because this bears repeating...
Every time I see one of these box office post I remember just how much i miss the Box Office Winners League.
"Alternate headline for this story: "Kate Beckinsale's sloppy seconds still more appealing than fresh Heigl." Probably a little uncouth, right?" This made me laugh out loud at work! This should be in the ad for Underworld.
I would've went with the "Beckinsale's Sloppy Seconds" headline. Maximise that Google traffic!
I went to see The Grey yesterday and the audience liked the movie a lot (heard a couple of people crying in spots), but the second the ending cut to black most of the audience either groaned or said something like "oh come on". Also nobody else waited after the credits. Hopefully the movie still gets good word of mouth because it really is a fantastic movie and Joe Carnahan is a great director/screenwriter.
I too cannot understand it when women don't like George Clooney. I have some friends of the female persuasion who hate him, and I can't imagine why. If I man dislikes him, I can chop it up to jealousy, but a woman? I mean, my friends were honestly trying to convince me he wasn't attractive.
Maybe they all just grew up with too much Batman and Robin.
I don't think Alex has seen The Grey if he's calling Liam Neeson an action star in relation to that movie.
OK, I'll bite. Why do you think you can't have a more than 100% increase @Alex?
Someone doesn't like George Clooney? Is that possible? Legal, even?