'Hansel & Gretel' on top while 'Parker,' 'Movie 43' struggle

This week, all it took to be at the top of the box office was $19 million. Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters grabbed the top spot, but the box office as a whole was slightly dampened because of snow on the East Coast Friday night. Hansel & Gretel would have earned even less if there hadn't
been 3D surcharges. Fellow new releases Parker and Movie 43 also bombed with audiences, but returning features fared much better.

Parker finished fifth with $7 million. The adult-leaning actioner had plenty of R-rated competition, which made it hard for the Jason Statham-led actioner to break from the pack. It's likely many moviegoers opted for a must-see awards contender instead. In fact, it was an especially good weekend for R-rated Oscar nominees Silver Linings Playbook, Zero Dark Thirty, and Django Unchained. Silver Linings Playbook was off just 7% from the previous week, an impressive hold, especially given that last weekend included the MLK holiday. That gave the romantic comedy another $10 million for a $69 million cumulative total to date, not bad for a picture reported to have cost just $21 million. Zero Dark Thirty was off 38% to $9.8 million. Django Unchained also posted a dip of just 35% for a finish at $5 million--bringing it
just shy of a $150 million domestic total.

Jessica Chastain's other release, Mama, placed two spots higher than ZDT with $12.8 million. It was just one of two PG-13 picture in the top ten (PG-13 Les Miserables placed tenth with $3.9 million). Mama is getting a boost not only because star Chastain is an Oscar nominee, but because of the dearth of PG-13 options. Maybe Parker would have fared better if it had a more inclusive rating.

The decidedly juvenile but R-rated Movie 43 bombed with just $5 million. The collection
of comedy skits featured huge names, but I'm sure all those stars' daily rates added together would cost most than the $5 million it totaled for the weekend. This may be the kind of raunchy comedy that gets more traction in the aftermarket, where kids have an easier time seeing R-rated movies--because this clearly isn't the kind of movie an adult finds funny.

This Friday, Sylvester Stallone stars in Bullet to the Head, Warm Bodies will make a grab for the Twilight audience, and Al Pacino and Christopher Walken are Stand Up Guys.