Despite some truly atrocious reviews, audiences’ love of John McLane won out over the weekend, with the movie topping the US box office with $25 million from Friday to Sunday and $33 million since it was released last Thursday.
Although not a great start, it’s not too far behind Die Hard 4’s $38 million four-day total. However, it’s not likely to get great word of mouth, so it may find it difficult to sustain its box office power over the coming weeks.
As it’s Presidents Day weekend, Die Hard 5 was just one of a slew of titles hitting cinemas. Safe Haven placed third with a decent $21 million (and $30 million since its Thursday opening), which is about on par with The Lucky One, but well behind Dear John’s first weekend.
While indie animation doesn’t usually do that well, Escape From Planet Earth took a pretty good $16 million, no doubt helped by the holiday weekend and the fact that for the last couple of months US cinemas have been full of R-rated entertainment.
While Warner Bros might have hoped Beautiful Creatures would be the new Twilight, it certainly won’t be, as the film placed sixth on the chart and took just $7 million over the weekend. It’s safe to say we’re unlikely to get the sequels Warner were hoping to make.
Take a look below for the US box office top 10 for the weekend of February 15th-17th.
| Rank | Title | Weekend Gross (millions) | Total Gross to date (millions) |
| 1 | A Good Day To Die Hard | $25.0 | $33.2 |
| 2 | Identity Thief | $23.4 | $70.7 |
| 3 | Safe Haven | $21.4 | $30.2 |
| 4 | Escape From Planet Earth | $16.0 | $16.0 |
| 5 | Warm Bodies | $9.0 | $50.2 |
| 6 | Beautiful Creatures | $7.4 | $10.0 |
| 7 | Side Effects | $6.3 | $19.1 |
| 8 | Silver Linings Playbook | $6.0 | $98.4 |
| 9 | Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters | $3.4 | $49.6 |
| 10 | Zero Dark Thirty | $3.1 | $88.0 |
The Melissa McCarthy and Jason Bateman grossout comedy Identity Thief may have been faced with some vitriolic reviews, but US audiences obviously didn’t care as the film significantly outperformed expectations, taking $36.5 million in its first three days in cinemas. It’s one of the best starts ever for an R-rated comedy, suggesting the film should have strong legs over the coming weeks.
Nobody seemed sure quite how well Warm Bodies would do at the US box office, but it turns out audiences were up for some zombie fun over the Superbowl weekend, as the Nicholas Hoult starring movie took $20 million in its first weekend to top the chart. It’s considered a pretty good opening for a relatively cheap movie that could easily have been ignored.
The Jeremy Renner and Gemma Arterton starrer, Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters, has topped the US box office on its first weekend of release, taking $19 million. While it came in number one, many are still seeing the grown-up fairytale as an underperformer, as most had expected an opening in the $20 million range.
While many had tipped Zero Dark Thirty to top the US box office again, the Guillermo Del Toro produced horror, Mama, outpaced expectations to easily win the the weekend with $28.1 million in its first three days. Some had even predicted disaster for Mama, but in the end it gave Jessica Chastain a double whammy, as she stars in both the number one and two movies, Mama and Zero Dark Thirty.
In its first week of wide release, Zero Dark Thirty has topped the US Box Office chart, taking $24 million as it expanded onto over 2,800 screens from just over a hundred. Its success came as a surprise to many, who’d expected Gangster Squad to top the chart.
Ben Affleck should have a big smile on his face this morning, having picked up Best Director for Argo at the Golden Globe Awards, while the movie also won Best Film, Drama. They weren’t the only ones with reasons to be happy, as Les Miserables got the Best Film, Musical Or Comedy gong, while Hugh Jackman got Best Actor, Musical Or Comedy and Anne Hathaway swiped Best Supporting Actress for the movie.