March was off to a decent start for the box office. Unsurprisingly, the Johnny Depp-starring animated feature RANGO took the #1 spot. Coming in at #2 was George Nolfi’s THE ADJUSTMENT BUREAU with $20.9 million. The romantic sci-fi/thriller marked the highest grossing opening for a top-billed Matt Damon movie other than the BOURNE films.
Taking #3 was Daniel Barnz’s BEASTLY with $10.1 million. I wouldn’t be caught dead calling this cheesy modern retelling of BEAUTY AND THE BEAST a horror flick – but it does have a monster of sorts, so I suppose it’s worth mentioning. Jaume Collet-Serra’s UNKNOWN is still holding its own at #6 with $6.6 million. DJ Caruso’s I AM NUMBER FOUR dropped to #9 with $5.7 million.
Patrick Lussier’s DRIVE ANGRY, which opened at #9 last weekend, unfortunately continued its poor performance. It came in at #13 with $2.2, a drop off of nearly 60%. Darren Aronofsky’s BLACK SWAN managed to pull in another million at the #15 spot for the second week in a row.
Next weekend, we get wide releases from two genre-esque projects: Jonathan Liebesman’s BATTLE: LOS ANGELES and Catherine Hardwicke’s RED RIDING HOOD. We’ll see how they fare against MARS NEEDS MOMS – which sounds like it should be an awesome sci-fi throwback but instead is an animated family movie. Chris Smith’s BLACK DEATH, which comes recommended here at AITH, is also receiving a limited release.
WEEKEND BOX OFFICE
| 1. Rango | $ 38.0 Million | NEW |
| 2. The Adjustment Bureau | $ 20.9 Million | NEW |
| 3. Beastly | $ 10.1 Million | NEW |
| 4. Hall Pass | $ 9.0 Million | $ 27.0 Million |
| 5. Gnomeo and Juliet | $ 6.9 Million | $ 83.7 Million |
| 6. Unknown | $ 6.6 Million | $ 53.1 Million |
| 7. The King’s Speech | $ 6.5 Million | $ 123 Million |
| 8. Just Go With It | $ 6.5 Million | $ 88.2 Million |
| 9. I Am Number Four | $ 5.7 Million | $ 46.4 Million |
| 10. Justin Bieber: Never Say Never | $ 4.3 Million | $ 68.9 Million |