Winning the weekend box office crown more than two weeks in a row is a rarity in the movie business these days, but 2014 has its second member of the three-time club as “The Lego Movie” joined “Ride Along” in the exclusive club. The Warner Bros. stop-motion animated hit took the top spot once more with an estimated gross of $31.4 million and a fantastic cume of $183.1 million in just 16 days. Looking at next weekend, “Lego” has an excellent chance of remaining no. 1 next weekend depending on just how potent the biblical epic “Son of God” and Liam Neeson’s “Non-Stop” are. The last film to remain at no. 1 for four straight weeks was “The Hunger Games” in 2012.
Debuting in second place was the Kevin Costner thriller “3 Days to Kill.” The Relativity Studios release earned just $12.3 million. The production budget was $28 million, but that was split with Luc Besson’s EuropaCorp and it could play much better overseas. Costner will hope for better results with his third new film in 2014, “Draft Day,” which opens on April 11.
The next three films in the top five all went to Sony Pictures releases. Placing third was the period disaster flick “Pompeii” which barely erupted earning just $10 million over the three-day. Obviously a disappointing figure for the studio based on the film’s cost, but like Relativity and “3 Days” they will hope for better results globally. Then again, the film’s title may have hurt the film more in the states than the mostly negative reviews.
Dropping to fourth was Sony and MGM’s remake of “Robocop” with another $9.4 million and $43.6 million to date. It should end up with close to $60 million domestically. The sci-fi thriller has already earned $70 million outside the U.S.
Fifth place went to George Clooney’s “The Monuments Men” with $8.1 million and $58 million to date. Clooney’s latest directorial effort should finish with close to $75 million when all is said and done.
It’s worth noting that two of last weekend’s openers, “Endless Love” and “Winter’s Tale” had massive drops of 67% and 71% respectively. Ouch.
New movies hitting theaters on Friday include the previously mentioned “Non Stop,” “Son of God” and a special R-rated version of “Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues.”
Final box office figures will be released on Monday.