While the box office was a bit down from last year, Limitless was the clear winner of the weekend. Limitless scored an estimated $19 million, while the newcomers, The Lincoln Lawyer and Paul each scored a $13.4 and $13.1 million each respectively.
Relativity Media finally scored their very first no. 1 hit with Limitless. The Bradley Cooper film only cost $27 million, received good reviews, and scored a solid B+ from CinemaScore. The film opened much better than the last Bradley Cooper film, Case 39 which only made a mere $5.3 million. The film was expected to make only $15 million over the weekend, but considering the fact that the film was heavily promoted (It even had a Super Bowl ad), it did well for itself. I wonder what the results would have been with the original star, Shia LaBeouf in it.
Lionsgate got a decent opening with the Matthew McConaughey film, The Lincoln Lawyer. The film did not have the heavy promotion that Limitless did, but it did advertise with the $6 tickets. The film received some of the best reviews of the year with a Rotten Tomatoes score of 81% fresh. It’s reported budget is $40 million so it’s possible it can earn back it’s budget considering it received a A- from CinemaScore. If only McConaughey had taken his shirt off, then it could have made back so much more.
Rango and Battle: Los Angeles both got the no. 2 and no. 3 spots respectively. The Paramount sleeper hit, scored a $15.3 million only falling a mere 32.2% this weekend. It’s total has climbed to $92.5 million and should make back somewhere in the $100 million mark. The Sony alien flick however dropped 59% from last weekend and made back $14.6 million. It has raised it’s cume to $60.6 million. It should make it to about the $80-90 million at the end of it’s run.
Finally, the other alien movie disappointed a little. Universal’s Paul scored a $13.1 million seems a little disappointing considering the full studded cast. The film received a 71% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes and was from the director of Superbad. The film received a solid B+ from CinemaScore. While it’s opening seems disappointing, the film’s main stars, Simon Pegg and Nick Frost last two movies, Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz only scored a $3.3 million and $5.8 million on it’s opening weekends. Even Greg Mottola’s last film, Adventureland only made $5.7 million on opening weekend. Paul could have generated very good word-of-mouth and can possible make back it’s budget of $40 million.
Good news for fans of Paul, The Lincoln Lawyer and Paul could switch postions by Monday when final numbers come out. They both had a similar Sunday decline that was about 35% for Lincoln Lawyer and 32% for Paul.
Next weekend, Zach Synder’s Sucker Punch looks like it will dominate next weekend as it doesn’t have very strong competition (Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules?). Other than 300, Synder’s last two movies Legends of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga’Hoole and Watchmen both disappointed, however with a PG-13 rating and a film with very sexy women in very hot clothes with Guns, I don’t think Sucker Punch will disappoint.
The rest of the top 10 of the weekend are below.
| TW | LW | Title (click to view) | Studio | Weekend Gross | % Change | Theater Count / Change | Average | Total Gross | Budget* | Week # | |
| 1 | N | Limitless | Rela. | $19,000,000 | - | 2,756 | - | $6,894 | $19,000,000 | $27 | 1 |
| 2 | 2 | Rango | Par. | $15,315,000 | -32.2% | 3,843 | -80 | $3,985 | $92,577,000 | $135 | 3 |
| 3 | 1 | Battle: Los Angeles | Sony | $14,600,000 | -59.0% | 3,417 | - | $4,273 | $60,602,000 | $70 | 2 |
| 4 | N | The Lincoln Lawyer | LGF | $13,400,000 | - | 2,707 | - | $4,950 | $13,400,000 | $40 | 1 |
| 5 | N | Paul | Uni. | $13,155,000 | - | 2,802 | - | $4,695 | $13,155,000 | $40 | 1 |
| 6 | 3 | Red Riding Hood | WB | $7,255,000 | -48.2% | 3,030 | - | $2,394 | $25,962,000 | $42 | 2 |
| 7 | 4 | The Adjustment Bureau | Uni. | $5,932,000 | -48.9% | 2,660 | -187 | $2,230 | $48,779,000 | $62 | 3 |
| 8 | 5 | Mars Needs Moms | BV | $5,317,000 | -23.1% | 3,117 | - | $1,706 | $15,401,000 | $150 | 2 |
| 9 | 6 | Beastly | CBS | $3,260,000 | -35.1% | 1,810 | -149 | $1,801 | $22,245,000 | $17 | 3 |
| 10 | 7 | Hall Pass | WB (NL) | $2,600,000 | -48.1% | 1,905 | -650 | $1,365 | $39,590,000 | $36 | 4 |
Tags: Battle: Los Angeles, Beastly, Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules, Hall Pass, Limitless, Mars needs Moms, Paul, Rango, Red Riding Hood, Sucker Punch, The Adjustment Bureau, The Lincoln Lawyer
