Pamela McClintock of THR
In another win for Liam Neeson and his adult fans, Warner Bros. and Dark Castle's action-thriller Unknown scored a surprise victory in besting Alex Pettyfer teen sci-fi adventure I Am Number Four at the President's Day box office.
But overall, theater traffic was once again sluggish. Weekend was down as much as 30% from President's Day weekend a year ago.
Unknown grossed an estimated $21.8 million from 3,043 theaters through Sunday, and is on target to gross around $26 million for the four-day holiday weekend. A resounding 89% of the audience was over the age of 25 -- and 54% over the age of 50.
DreamWorks and Touchstone's Number Four grossed a softer-than-expected $19.5 million from 3,154 theaters through Sunday, putting it at No. 2 for the three days. But for the four-day weekend, it will likely come in No. 3, behind Unknownand holdover family toon Gnomeo & Juliet, also a Touchstone release.
Hollywood studios have been complaining for months about tracking, and President's Day weekend was no different. Going into the holiday, tracking services mistakenly showed Number Four in the lead.
Number Four is the first release from a reconstituted DreamWorks, and is the first to come out of the company's output and marketing deal with Disney. Movie played older than expected, with 54% of the audience was over the age of 25. Just as problematic was the fact that 57% of those buying tickets were males (Pettyfer was expected to draw more young females).
Gnomeo came in a pleasing No. 3 for the three-day weekend, grossing $19.4 million from 3,013 theaters for a cume of $50.4 million through Sunday, it's 10th day in release. It's projected to gross roughly $25.3 million for the four-day weekend, while Number Four is projected to gross around $22 million or $23 million.
Also holding well in its second weekend, Sony's Just Go With It grossed $18.2 million from 3,548 million for the three-day weekend to come in No. 4. It's possible Go With It could beat Number Four for the four days, but most give an edge to the latter.
New Regency and 20th Century Fox's franchise relaunch Big Mommas: Like Father, Like Son came in No. 5, grossing an estimated $17 million through Sunday as it opened in 2,821 theaters. Total gross for the four-day weekend is projected at $20 million.
Unknown, Number Four and Big Mommas all received B+ CinemaScores.
Paramount's Justin Bieber: Never Say Never held better than expected in its second weekend, declining 54% for the three days to an estimated $13.6 million. The picture's cume through Sunday was $48.5 million. Never Say Never will easily jump the $50 million mark on Monday.
John Young of EW says not so fast Neeson Gnomeo & Juliet could challenge for first place....
Next Up: Owen Wilson, Jason Sudeikis and Christina Applegate get a Hall Pass from directors Bobby and Peter Farrelly; While Nicolas Cage learns to Drive Angry in 3-D no less...Ugh!!
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