LOS ANGELES (AP) - Bruce Willis remains a die-hard at the box office.
Willis' action sequel "A Good Day to Die Hard"
debuted as the weekend's top draw with a $25 million debut from Friday
to Sunday. The 20th Century Fox release raised its domestic total to
$33.2 million since opening Thursday for Valentine's Day to get a jump
on the long President's Day weekend.
The movie comes 25 years after the original "Die
Hard" and six years after "Live Free or Die Hard," the hit that
resurrected the franchise centered on Willis' relentless New York City
cop John McClane.
The previous weekend's No. 1 movie, Universal's
comedy "Identity Thief" starring Jason Bateman and Melissa McCarthy, was
a close second with $23.4 million to lift its haul to $70.7 million.
Debuting at No. 3 with $21.4 million was Relativity
Media's romance "Safe Haven," starring Julianne Hough and Josh Duhamel
in an adaptation of the Nicholas Sparks novel about a woman who flees
her abusive husband and takes up with a sensitive widower. Since opening
on Valentine's Day, "Safe Haven" has taken in $30.3 million.
The Weinstein Co. animated tale "Escape from Planet
Earth" opened at No. 4 with $16.1 million. With a voice cast that
includes Brendan Fraser, Jessica Alba, Sarah Jessica Parker and Rob
Corddry, the movie follows the adventures of aliens captured by the U.S.
military.
Making a weak debut at No. 6 was the Warner Bros.
teen fantasy "Beautiful Creatures," which pulled in $7.5 million for the
weekend and $10 million since opening Thursday. The movie is based on
the first in the best-selling series about a Southern misfit (Alden
Ehrenreich) who falls under the spell of a teen witch (Alice Englert).
"A Good Day to Die Hard" did solid business despite
bad reviews for the latest installment, which sends Willis' McClane to
Moscow in search of his estranged son, an undercover spy who winds up
teaming with the old man against Russian bad guys.
The movie's success follows notable flops from two
other holdovers of the 1980s action scene, Sylvester Stallone with
"Bullet to the Head" and Arnold Schwarzenegger with "The Last Stand."
"There's still life left in the 'Die Hard'
franchise. Given the fact that pretty much every other R-rated action
movie that's come out this year has completely fallen flat, this is a
pretty good showing," said Paul Dergarabedian, an analyst for box-office
tracker Hollywood.com. Willis is "one of the old-guard action stars who
still has a solid career going, whereas a lot of these aging action
heroes, unless they're in an ensemble cast, they're not able to draw
audiences the way they used to."
Overall Hollywood business remained slow, with
revenues off for the fourth-straight weekend compared to the same period
last year. Domestic business from Friday to Sunday totaled $141
million, down 9.4 percent from the same weekend a year ago, when "Safe
House" and "The Vow" led the way with about $23 million each.
A bright spot this year has been strong business
for top Academy Awards contenders leading up to next Sunday's Oscars.
The weekend's top-20 films included eight of the nine best-picture
nominees, seven of which have either topped $100 million domestically or
are close.
Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at
U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Hollywood.com. Where
available, latest international numbers are included. Final domestic
figures will be released Tuesday.
1. "A Good Day to Die Hard," $25 million ($61.5 million international).
2. "Identity Thief," $23.4 million ($180,000 international).
3. "Safe Haven," $21.4 million ($2.6 million international).
4. "Escape from Planet Earth," $16.1 million.
5. "Warm Bodies," $9 million ($4.9 million international).
6. "Beautiful Creatures," $7.5 million ($5.4 million international).
7. "Side Effects," $6.3 million.
8. "Silver Linings Playbook," $6.1 million ($6.5 million international).
9. "Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters," $3.5 million ($9.5 million international).
10. "Zero Dark Thirty," $3.1 million ($2.9 million international).
___
Estimated weekend ticket sales at international
theaters (excluding the U.S. and Canada) for films distributed overseas
by Hollywood studios, according to Rentrak:
1. "A Good Day to Die Hard," $61.5 million.
2. "Django Unchained," $13.7 million.
3. "Wreck-It Ralph," $11.5 million.
4. "Les Miserables," $10 million.
5. "Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters," $9.5 million.
6. "Miracle in Cell. No. 7," $8.8 million.
7. "Flight," $7 million.
8. "Lincoln," $6.6 million.
9. "Silver Linings Playbook," $6.5 million.
10. "Jack Reacher," $5.7 million.
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