Justin Bieber, Usher, Justin Bieber: Never Say Never
Liam Neeson-January Jones’ UNKNOWN Tops Friday Box Office
Down three spots at no. 5 on Friday, Feb. 18, was the animated Gnomeo & Juliet, which features songs by Elton John and the voices of James McAvoy, Emily Blunt, Michael Caine, Matt Lucas, and Maggie Smith. Gnomeo & Juliet collected $4.3m.
Animated movies perform much better on the weekend proper and on holidays than during the week (including Friday). Chances are Gnomeo & Juliet will be ahead of — at least — both Just Go with It and Big Mommas: Like Father Like Son when weekend figures are released. By the time Monday figures come out, it’s possible — as mentioned at Deadline last night — that Gnomeo & Juliet will come out on top. Not necessarily likely, but possible.
Also down three spots at no. 6, the 3D Justin Bieber documentary Justin Bieber: Never Say Never grossed $3.8m. That represents a whopping 69% drop compared to its (official) debut last Friday.
Tom Hooper’s The King’s Speech, starring Colin Firth, Geoffrey Rush, and Helena Bonham Carter, drew $1.5m at no. 7. The King’s Speech should be passing the $100m mark later today or tomorrow at the latest.
Featuring Leighton Meester and Minka Kelly, the thriller The Roommate brought in $403k, down one spot at no. 8.
At no. 9, The Eagle scored $1m. Directed by Kevin Macdonald, the period actioner stars Channing Tatum, Jamie Bell, Mark Strong, Tahar Rahim, and Donald Sutherland.
Natalie Portman-Ashton Kutcher romantic comedy No Strings Attached earned $900k at no. 10.
No estimates were available for the 3D underwater adventure movie Sanctum and Jason Statham-Ben Foster’s The Mechanic.
Therefore, it’s unclear which of the following movies — along with the aforementioned Sanctum and The Mechanic — will be gone from the top twelve when weekend estimates are released Sunday morning: Joel Coen and Ethan Coen’s True Grit, Anthony Hopkins-Colin O’Donoghue’s The Rite, Seth Rogen-Jay Chou’s The Green Hornet.
Among the top-ten movies, Unknown had the highest per-theater average, an estimated $2,208. The Eagle had the lowest, $436.
Also among the top ten (barring newcomers Unknown, I Am Number Four, Big Mommas: Like Father Like Son), Gnomeo & Juliet posted the highest Thursday-to-Friday attendance increase, +324%. The Eagle posted the lowest, +87%.
Photo: Paramount Pictures.
Thanks for writing.
Actually, “Never Say Never” was number three on Wed. and Thu. “Gnomeo & Juliet” was no. 2.
you mean justin bieber’s never say never down 4 spots. i believe it was number 2 last week. over hyped anyway.