Two "Chick Flicks" Gang Up On Die Hard

19 February 2013

Twentieth Century Fox's A Good Day to Die Hard had an OK Presidents Day at the box office -- but it came nowhere near the kind of blockbuster performance that some industry pundits had expected. Opening on Valentine's Day, a Thursday, the film failed even to equal the totals on that day of Universal's comedy, Identity Thief -- in its second week -- or Relativity Media's debut of the romantic drama Safe Haven. For the regular Friday-through-Sunday weekend it barely outdistanced Identity Thief as it recorded $24.8 million in ticket sales to Thief's $23.4 million, with Safe Haven not far behind with $21.5 million. The three films continued their close race through Monday with the Die Hard movie winding up in the lead for the Thursday-through-Sunday holiday but only $3 million separating it from the other two. Tellingly, the second week of Identity Thief saw more bodies filling the seats than the other two, as it averaged $8,810 per theater versus $8,247 for Die Hard and $7,810 for Haven. The Weinstein Co.'s Silver Linings Playbook continued to impress, dropping just 6 percent in its 14th week and selling enough tickets to put it past the $100-million mark. Overall, the box office results were mediocre, off about 10 percent from the same weekend last year; 4 percent from 2011; 30 percent from 2010; and 24 percent from 2009.

The top ten films over the four-day Presidents Day holiday, according to estimates compiled by Box Office Mojo (figures in parentheses represent total gross to date):
1. A Good Day to Die Hard, Fox, $29,300,000, 1 Wk. ($37,539,000 -- from Thursday); 2. Identity Thief, Universal, $27,883,650, 2 Wks. ($75,171,435); 3. Safe Haven, Relativity Media, $25,171,000, 1 Wk. ($34,000,000 -- from Thursday); 4. Escape From Planet Earth, The Weinstein Co. $21,042,000, 1 Wk. ($21,042,000); 5. Warm Bodies, Lionsgate/Summit, $10,250,000, 3 Wks. ($51,470,000); 6. Beautiful Creatures, Warner Bros., $8,925,000, 1 Wk. ($11,467,000 -- from Thursday); 7. Side Effects, Open Road Films , $7,800,000, 2 Wks. ($20,621,000); 8. Silver Linings Playbook, The Weinstein Co. $7,630,000, 14 Wks. ($100,004,472); 9. Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters, Paramount, $4,180,000, 4 Wks. ($50,409,000); 10. Zero Dark Thirty, Sony, $3,600,000, 9 Wks. ($88,529,000).

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