New at BOP: Review: Matrix Resurrections Movie Review: Moonfall Movie Reviews: Scream The #1 Movie in America November Forecast The Many Saints of Newark October Forecast New Trivia Question All site updates Share & Save   Tweet Print this column

Finishing second this weekend is I Am Number Four, Steven Spielberg and DJ Caruso's most recent shot at launching the career of a young new star, a la Eagle Eye and Disturbia with Shia LaBeouf. Unfortunately for Alex Pettyfer, I Am Number Four didn't work as well as expected, but it still grossed $19.5 million to finish in the second spot this weekend. Number Four launched on 3,154 venues, and had an average of $6,183. This franchise wannabe is from the latest incarnation of DreamWorks, and the first film from the company distributed by Disney's Touchstone Pictures. I Am Number Four had a lot of things going for it, but likely finished second because of two reasons: lack of any name recognition whatsoever, and the fact that it was produced by Michael Bay.

Critics caught on that Bay was involved, and lambasted the movie. At RottenTomatoes, only 26 positive reviews were counted out of a possible 94, leaving Number Four looking like Number Two, with only a 28% fresh rating (top critics liked it even less, at 19% fresh). Despite the reviews, never count out a DJ Caruso film. As odd as that statement may seem, the director turned Disturbia, which opened to $22 million, into a $70 million hit (against a $20 million budget). He also turned September opener Eagle Eye into a $100 million film, despite a $29 million opening and some really bad reviews. The new and improved DreamWorks team was hoping to turn Number Four into a franchise, so without some serious legs, I highly doubt that's going to happen.

Gnomeo and Juliet finds itself in third this weekend, beating out both Adam Sandler and Justin Bieber. Thhanks to zero kid competition, the Disney flick earned $19.5 million, off only 23% compared to last weekend. Gnomeo and Juliet already has $50.4 million in the bank, not bad for a film that looks like it could have gone straight to VOD.

Finishing fourth is Just Go With It, last weekend's number one film featuring Sandler and Jennifer Aniston. Just Go With It benefited nicely from the Presidents' Day long weekend, as the Sony film earned $19.4 million and dropped 40%. The holiday on Monday will prop up holdovers this weekend, as Sunday business should behave more like a Saturday, and increase the millions earned by the holdovers. Normally, a Sandler flick would drop about 50% (partly due to making bad films, partly due to the Sandler-fanboy success his films see in their first weekend). Made for $80 million, this is another Sandler picture that is going to do just fine for Sony, likely pulling in $100 million domestic. For now, Just Go With It has earned $60.8 million.

I feel like I need a shower as I talk about the fifth place finisher, Big Mommas: Like Father, Like Son. It earned $17 million this weekend and should be seen by no one.

Sixth goes to the Justin Bieber movie. The 3D concert flick earned $13.6 million in its second weekend and dropped 54% - which is high, but not nearly the 100% I was hoping for. Hannah Montana dropped 67%. The Bieber flick has now earned $48 million.

Finishing seventh is The King's Speech, and it should be getting ready for what is likely to be a very successful Oscar night next week. After dropping only 6% last weekend, The King's Speech had another grand weekend, earning $6.6 million and dropping only 9%. What's left to say about this one? It crossed the $100 million mark domestically this weekend, and crossed the $200 million mark on the worldwide stage, all against a $15 million budget. The news simply can't get much better for this one. Those Weinstein boys are back.

Eighth goes to The Roommate, and I find it hard to believe that I would see this before TWO other films in the top ten. In its third frame, the 6% fresh Roommate earned another $4.1 million and dropped 50%. The $16 million Screen Gems product has doubled that production budget, as it has a gross so far of $32.7 million. For those still playing at home, this was our number one film two weekends ago – look it up, I'm serious!

Channing Tatum and the bird, I mean Eagle, finishes ninth. The small Focus Features film earned $3.6 million and dropped 59%. This one is going to be a loser for the studio, as it has only earned $15 million so far against a budget of $25 million.

Finally in tenth is No Strings Attached, the Natalie Portman rom-com. No Strings earned $3.1 million this weekend, off 46% from last weekend. The Paramount release has now earned $66 million, against a tiny budget of only $25 million.

Overall this weekend, things were looking good, as we're 7% ahead of the same weekend last year. This weekend, the top 12 coughed up $130.8 million, which is very favorable when compared to last year's total of $122.1 for the same weekend. Next weekend, Nic Cage returns in Drive Angry, and The Farrelly Brothers release Hall Pass. Could be interesting.

Top Weekend Box Office for 2/18/11-2/20/11 (Estimates)
Rank	Film	Distributor	Estimated Gross	Weekly Change	Running Total
1	Unknown	The WeinsteinCo.	$21,770,000	New	$21,770,000
2	I Am Number Four	Walt Disney Pictures	$19,500,000	New	$19,500,000
3	Gnomeo and Juliet	Touchstone Pictures	$19,400,000	- 23.5%	$50,421,000
4	Just Go With It	Columbia Pictures (Sony)	$18,200,000	- 40.4%	$60,756,000
5	Big Mommas: Like Father, Like Son	Twentieth Century Fox	$17,000,000	New	$17,000,000
6	Justin Bieber: Never Say Never	Paramount	$13,600,000	- 53.9%	$48,000,000
7	The King's Speech	The Weinstein Company	$6,565,619	- 9.2%	$103,277,595
8	The Roommate	Sony/Columbia	$4,100,000	- 49.5%	$32,700,000
9	The Eagle	Focus Features	$3,558,700	- 59.0%	$15,040,935
10	No Strings Attached	Paramount	$3,120,000	- 46.3%	$66,000,000
11	True Grit	Paramount Pictures	$2,400,000	- 36.6%	$164,000,000
12	Sanctum	Warner Bros.	$1,576,665	- 72.2%	$21,885,450
	Also Opening/Notables
	Even the Rain		$53,000	New	$53,000
	The Last Lions	National Geographic	$46,000	New	$46,000
	I Am	Paladin	$10,500	New	$10,500
	Brotherhood		$7,952	New	$7,952
	Cedar Rapids	Fox Searchlight	$908,718	+199.9%	$1,300,000
	Vidal Sassoon: the Movie	Phase 4 Films	$14,912	New	$32,983
	The Rite	Warner Bros.	$1,115,000	- 65.7%	$31,377,000
	The Mechanic	CBS Films	$1,059,000	- 66.9%	$27,941,693
	Biutiful		$500,000	- 13.8%	$3,000,000
	The Green Hornet	Columbia Pictures (Sony)	$1,450,000	- 60.5%	$95,100,000
	The Fighter	Paramount	$1,475,000	- 31.9%	$87,750,000
	Black Swan	Universal	$1,309,000	- 38.3%	$101,769,075
Click here for all weekend data
Box office data supplied by Exhibitor Relations

Continued:       1       2