Weekend Box Office Report: February 21-23, 2014

Last Updated on August 5, 2021

The Lego Movie keeps stacking higher!

It seems like nothing can stop those interlocking blocks, as THE LEGO MOVIE stayed on top of the box office for the third weekend in a row with another $31.4 million!

The computer-animated smash is already up to $183.1 million domestically, and in addition to helping move tons of product off toy shelves, it's also produced a hit song — the maddeningly catchy pop tune "Everything is Awesome" by Tegan and Sara (and Lonely Island) debuted on Billboard's Hot 100 chart this week. So dip your body in chocolate frosting.

The Kevin Costner action-thriller 3 DAYS TO KILL was in second with an opening of $12.3 million. For director McG, that comes in lower than his last action movie THIS MEANS WAR, which opened around this time two years ago with $17.4 million (although that development-hell mess somehow went on to $156 million worldwide).

The PG-13 spy flick from co-writer/producer Luc Besson carried a reasonably lean $28 million budget, and received an average 27% on Rotten Tomatoes from critics, while audiences gave it a 'B' CinemaScore.

Opening in third was the 3D volcanic historical adventure POMPEII with $10 million. The new PG-13 action-drama started out slightly better than director Paul WS Anderson's last non-RESIDENT EVIL release THE THREE MUSKETEERS, which stumbled out of the gate with only $8.6 million when it opened in 2011.

Critics were barely entertained by the devastation of the famous Roman city (29% on Rotten Tomatoes), but paying crowds felt the spectacle deserved a 'B' CinemaScore. While the movie will undoubtedly perform better overseas (it's already pulled in another $23 million internationally), it cost the filmmaker $100+ million to blow up Vesuvius and coat "Game of Thrones" actor Kit Harrington with sweat and ash.

The sleek new model of ROBOCOP dropped more than half its business from last week's opening, sliding to fourth with $9.4 million. But the PG-13 remake is performing better overseas, and will likely cross $200 million worldwide. George Clooney's WWII movie THE MONUMENTS MEN is holding on fairly well, in fifth place with another $8.1 million in its third weekend.

The same can't be said of last weeks trio of Valentine's Day romances, which lost an average of 70% from their openings. The new version of ABOUT LAST NIGHT hung in the best (likely thanks to co-star Kevin Hart) in sixth with $7.4 million, but ENDLESS LOVE and the Colin Farrell fantasy WINTER'S TALE (the most expensive at a budget of $60 million) are on their way out of the Top 10.

The comedy RIDE ALONG continues coasting after six weeks of release, while Disney's FROZEN is the only Oscar contender (and almost sure bet for Best Animated Film and Best Song) on the list and is now just around $20 million shy of cracking the $1 billion mark worldwide.

Outside the chart, LONE SURVIVOR and THAT AWKWARD MOMENT have slipped out of the Top 10, while AMERICAN HUSTLE, PHILOMENA and THE WOLF OF WALL STREET are still going strongest out of the Best Picture contenders.

Next weekend brings a couple of saviors: Liam Neeson in the airplane thriller NON-STOP, and the biblical story SON OF GOD (a theatrical edit of "The Bible" TV miniseries). Also, we'll get the limited release of the WWII movie STALINGRAD, and an expansion for the Hayao Miyazaki animated film THE WIND RISES.

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