Debuting in the box office wasteland that is January? A film so bad Ryan contemplated filing charges in his review? Facing a competitive NFL Playoff Weekend?
Despite all these things that should have killed it, Taken 3 hit big this weekend.
May God have mercy on all of us.
The dreadful third entry in the Taken trilogy (please God let it stay a trilogy. No Part 4!) outperformed estimates and grossed nearly $40M for the weekend.
Coming in second with $11.2M was Selma, the story of MLK’s protests against Alabama voter registration abuses, as it expanded nationally. The receipts for Selma are a big disappointment for the studio, as comparable films did much better business. Selma’s big hope to turn things around is to score some Oscar nods on Thursday to fuel interest. The film is a smart biopic covering a critical time in US History, so it’s not like it isn’t a great product. But apparently folks are more interested in Liam Neeson’s dreadful celluloid abortion…
At #6, Imitation Game continues to hold up very well with $7M. That’s only a 2% drop. The Cumberbatch outing could benefit next weekend from some Oscar love. This amazing movie deserves everything that comes its way.
Night at the Museum, coming in at #7, looks set to pass $100M on Monday. Nice to send the great Robin Williams out with one last $100M movie.
Outside the top 20, American Sniper continues to excel in limited release; drawing $555k for a total of $3M on just 4 screens. The true story of the most deadly sniper in US Military history opens wide next week. Hopefully audiences will be more interested in this real life action drama than a second helping of Neeson.
For the full chart, check out BoxOfficeMojo!
Gabbing Geek 