Wouldn’t you know it. Just as Hollywood’s attention was distracted by Jennifer Lawrence tripping the step fantastic and Shirley Bassey’s ageless set of pipes, Identity Thief sneaked its way into the box office penthouse again.
Not that the office was tightly locked down, mind you. If the weekend’s two big new releases—Snitch and Dark Skies—were supposed to guard the weekend’s box office title like a pair of Rottweilers, Identity Thief merely had to distract ’em with a big belly rub and a chew toy. After that, the R-rated comedy, in its third weekend, simply sauntered up from the No. 2 spot, pilfered an estimated $14.1 million and walked away with the win.
Snitch didn’t exactly roll over and play dead. While Dwayne Johnson’s PG-13 action flick might’ve underperformed a bit, it still collected $13 million to nail down second place. It bested a bevy of second-week holdovers, including the animated Escape From Planet Earth ($11 million for third place) and Safe Haven ($10.6 million for fourth). Last week’s champ, A Good Day to Die Hard, took a titanic tumble from the top—collecting a mere $10 million for a fifth-place finish.
Still, Bruce Willis’ latest Die Hard flick kept Dark Skies out of the Top 5. The alien frightfest careened out of orbit and crashed hard, finishing sixth with $8.9 million.
All told, it was a fairly dowdy weekend at the box office—perhaps expectedly so. Judging from the weekend estimates, many folks opted to catch up on an Oscar hopeful than bother with a newbie film. Silver Linings Playbook (honored last night with a Best Actress statuette for Jennifer Lawrence) finished seventh. Zero Dark Thirty (which picked up an Oscar for Sound Editing) was 11th. Argo (three wins, including Best Picture) was 12th—even though it’s now out on video. Life of Pi (four wins, including Best Director for Ang Lee) was 14th, followed by Lincoln (two wins, including one for Daniel Day-Lewis as Best Actor) at 15th. Django Unchained and Amour were 18th and 19th respectively, and Les Misérables barely missed the Top 20 with a 21st-place finish.
Some of these films might hover around the Top 20 for a while longer, too—enjoying a bit of post-Oscar support. And it’s already been a hugely lucrative year for Academy Award-type movies: Of the nine Best Picture nominees, six of them have earned more than $100 million domestically—led by Lincoln’s $178.6 million.
Final figures update: 1. Identity Thief, $14 million; 2. Snitch, $13.2 million; 3. Escape from Planet Earth, $10.7 million; 4. Safe Haven, $10.5 million; 5. A Good Day to Die Hard, $10.2 million.
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