Movie Monday: Limitless

It was a mind-blowing weekend for the film Limitless, which edged past modest predictions to pocket $19 million and become the most-watched movie of the weekend. The rest of the box office, though, was a bit limited.

Holdovers Rango and Battle Los Angeles finished second and third, logging in at an estimated$15.3 and $14.6 million respectively. Newcomers Paul and The Lincoln Lawyer are squabbling over fourth place: According to Monday’s estimates, Lawyer has the upper hand, banking $13.4 million to Paul’s estimated $13.2 mil. But that could change.

Nor, frankly, does it matter much. I can’t imagine folks at either Lionsgate (home to Lawyer) or Universal (which distributed Paul) dancing in the hallways with little noisemakers, shouting, “We’re No. 4!”, particularly in light of how paltry the grosses are. Hollywood’s still mired in a big-time slump, with 16 of 2011’s 17 weekends underperforming compared to the same time last year. As Time’s Richard Corliss writes, “Comparing these seasonal stats gives Hollywood a severe case of March Sadness.”