Neil Burger’s LIMITLESS proved to live up to its title by opening at #1 at the box office this weekend with a gross of $19 million. The thriller certainly had the star power – Bradley Cooper is hot right now, and Robert De Niro is always awesome – but frankly I’m surprised it took the top spot.
I’m bit surprised to report that Greg Mottola’s PAUL opened at #5 with only $13.2 million. It had funnyman Seth Rogan voicing the alien along with the one-two punch of Simon Pegg and Nick Frost. There was a lot of positive buzz for the comedy, but we all know that that doesn’t always translate to ticket sales.
Jonathan Liebesman’s BATTLE: LOS ANGELES, which opened at #1 last week, fell 59% but still managed to claim the #3 spot with $14.6 million. Catherine Hardwicke’s RED RIDING HOOD, last week’s #3, fell to #6 with $7.3 million. George Nolfi’s THE ADJUSTMENT BUREAU dropped from #4 to #7 wih $5.9 million.
Jaume Collet-Serra’s UNKNOWN came in at #14 with $1.3 million, and DJ Caruso’s I AM NUMBER FOUR continued right behind it with $1.1 million at #15. Darren Aronofsky’s BLACK SWAN fell out of the Top 20, but pulling in $175,000 in its 16th week isn’t too shabby. The same can’t be said for Patrick Lussier’s DRIVE ANGRY, which only took in $40,000 in its 4th week.
Next weekend, we’ll see how Zack Snyder’s SUCKER PUNCH fares. Based on its limited competition and heavy promotional push, things are looking good for the action/fantasy flick.
WEEKEND BOX OFFICE
| 1. Limitless | $ 19.0 million | NEW |
| 2. Rango | $ 15.3 million | $ 92.6 million |
| 3. Battle: Los Angeles | $ 14.6 million | $ 60.6 million |
| 4. The Lincoln Lawyer | $ 13.4 million | NEW |
| 5. Paul | $ 13.2 million | NEW |
| 6. Red Riding Hood | $ 7.2 million | $ 26.0 million |
| 7. The Adjustment Bureau | $ 5.9 million | $ 48.8 million |
| 8. Mars Needs Moms | $ 5.3 million | $ 15.4 million |
| 9. Beastly | $ 3.3 million | $ 22.2 million |
| 10. Hall Pass | $ 2.6 million | $ 39.6 million |