Battle: Los Angeles turned in the second-highest opening of the year, continuing a mild March box-office upswing. It earned $36 million, well ahead of Rango‘s impressive second weekend earnings, at $23 million. The ILM film has now brought in an impressive $68.6 million.
Red Riding Hood debuted in third position, gating a lower-than-expected $14 million, ahead of The Adjustment Bureau‘s second weekend of $11 million. Mars Needs Moms charted with a poor debut, certainly the most dissapointing of the new bunch, gating only $6.8 million.
Jane Eyre opened in 4 theaters, earning impressive reviews and $182,000. Look for that to perform with a wider release.
Next weekend sees a trio of debuts: Limitless, The Lincoln Lawyer and Paul. A pair of stars will attempt to carry the first two (Bradley Cooper in Limitless and Matthew McConaughey in The Lincoln Lawyer) as they square off against the extensive-ad-campaign-pulling Paul. It’s hard to call a clear favorite, but all will be tangling with the second week of Battle: Los Angeles and the third week of Rango. I’d put my money on Paul, but not too much of it.
Check out the top 10 (movie- weekend; total)
1. Battle: Los Angeles– $36,000,000; $36,000,000 (debut)
2. Rango– $23,050,000; $68,653,000
3. Red Riding Hood– $14,135,000; $14,135,000 (debut)
4. The Adjustment Bureau– $11,459,000; $38,451,000
5. Mars Needs Moms– $6,800,000; $6,800,000 (debut)
6. Hall Pass– $5,105,000; $34,936,000
7. Beastly– $5,090,000; $16,980,000
8. Just Go With It– $4,000,000; $93,982,000
9. The King’s Speech– $3,625,000; $129,062,000
10. Gnomeo and Juliet– $3,546,000; $89,031,000
Which did you check out this weekend? What are you going to see next weekend?