‘I, Frankenstein,’ takes up the rear far behind ‘Ride Along’

Fantasy/action retread I, Frankenstein suffered through its own version of a horror story this past weekend. The movie failed to crack the weekend’s Top 5, let alone claim the No. 2 or 3 slot as befits a big-budget wide release. Instead, I, Frankenstein bombed with $8.3 million. Even worse than The Legend of Hercules’ opening figure ($8.9 million), and roughly half of last year’s comparable title Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters’ debut, Frankenstein’s haul landed the film at No. 6. Expect the DOA would-be franchise to flame out very soon, most likely to less than $20 million.

On the other hand, expect Ride Along to cruise past an overall gross of $100 million by the end of its theatrical run – and potentially towards a sequel. For the second weekend in a row the cop comedy earned the No. 1 spot at the box office. Along raked in $21.2 million, bumping its 10-day cume to $75.4 million.

Another Universal film, Lone Survivor, took second place with $12.6 million. This is the second consecutive weekend the top two spots have been occupied by movies distributed by Universal  – the last time a distributor achieved this feat was back in 1994, when Warner Bros. titles On Deadly Ground and Ace Ventura: Pet Detective both ruled the box office. Having earned $93.6 million so far, Lone Survivor will likely out-gross Zero Dark Thirty, which earned $95.7 million, by the end of the week.

The Nut Job continues to hold well, having accumulated $12.3 million and thus securing the weekend’s No. 3 position.  That figure marks a drop of 37% from last week, and has boosted the film’s domestic earnings to $40.3 million in total.

Continuing to afford pundits and journalists ample opportunity to play off the title of its hit song, “Let It Go,” Frozen refuses to do just that when it comes to its hold on the box office. The animated success moved up a bit this weekend to the No. 4 position, enjoying $9.04 million in sales. It is now officially the highest-grossing original animated movie of all time. Yet another boost may be imminent, as Disney plans to release a sing-along version nationwide this coming weekend.

This same nation has more or less opted to take a pass on the new Jack Ryan reboot. Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit rounds out the weekend’s Top 5 with its $8.8 million gross. The movie’s overall cume to date is less than that which the last Jack Ryan attempt, The Sum of All Fears, managed to earn at this same point in its theatrical run a decade ago. Shadow Recruit now stands at $30.2 million.

When it comes to specialty features and, as is the case with the following films, awards contenders, Dallas Buyers Club enjoyed the benefits of a wider release (earning $2.05 million from $1,110 locations) while Nebraska took in $1.44 million from 968 theatres. Right now Nebraska has earned the least of amount of money of the nine Best Picture Academy Awards nominees, while as of this morning Club's  total domestic gross clocked in at $20.4 million.

‘Ride Along’ finishes first

Exceeding what were already high expectations, Ride Along not only earned the No. 1 spot at the box office this past weekend, but managed to set a new January record. The comedy grossed $41.6 million over the three-day holiday, or $48.1 million for Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and Monday in total. The film’s weekend opening bests that of previous January record-holder Cloverfield, which bowed to $40.1 million in 2008. With a strong “A” CinemaScore rating, Ride Along will likely hold well over the coming weeks. An ultimate return of over $100 million isn’t out of the question.

Well-regarded Lone Survivor was the weekend’s No. 2 earner, easing just 42% to rake in $22.1 million. As of this morning, the war drama’s domestic cume stands at a great $77.2 million.

“Great” could also describe The Nut Job’s opening weekend performance. The animated comedy feature grossed a stronger-than-expected $19.4 million for the three days. While that figure is roughly on track with those predictions made on Friday (pundits did say the film would open to less than $20 million) the real surprise lay in The Nut Job’s ability to beat its direct family-friendly competition. Frozen is still doing banner business – especially when you consider the film has been screening for eight weeks now – but the musical failed to out-earn upstart Job. Still, with its $11.9 million haul, a drop-off of only 20% from the previous week, Frozen yet enjoyed a fiscally friendly weekend.

Frozen’s take places it at No. 5, with the weekend’s No. 4 slot going to the rather disappointing Jack Ryan reboot, Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit. The fourth attempt at adapting the Tom Clancy-penned series, Recruit earned $15.4 million. Along with its soft opening, the film’s troubles were compounded by its older-skewing audience. Eighty-five percent of Jack Ryan viewers were over the age of 25, meaning the filmmakers’ decision to cast young, 33-year-old Chris Pine in the lead role, an attempt to lure a young fan base – one that would hopefully grow with the series – failed to pay off. The franchise’s future remains murky, though one can assume executives aren’t chomping at the bit to finance a sequel.

However, those behind the Jack Ryan production can rest easy knowing they were not involved in Devil’s Due, the weekend’s bomb. The horror flick earned $8.4 million, making it the seventh film from distributor 20^th Century Fox to open below $15 million, an unenviable streak that extends back to Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters.

American Hustle, on the other hand, continues its hot streak. The film saw an uptick of 19% from last weekend with its $9.9. million gross, which places it at the top of the pack, at least in terms of earning potential, of this year’s Oscar nominees. Other awards contenders August: Osage County and The Wolf of Wall Street earned $7.4 and $7.1 million, respectively, with the latter crossing the $90 million mark on Monday.

Gravity earned $1.87 from its first weekend in re-release. 12 Years a Slave benefitted as well from a second run: The harrowing Steve McQueen drama has now grossed over $40 million.