Box Office Report: ‘He’s Just Not That Into You’ Wins Weekend

By: Jeff Olson

Source: Box Office Mojo

The weekend box office was a success for some films and a failure for others. The romantic comedy He’s Just Not That Into You took the top spot at the box office bringing in $27.4 million. With a huge $10 million opening day this film was well received by both men and women. Look for this film to hold up well over the next week with Valentine’s day as well as a three day holiday weekend. The kidnap thriller Taken saw a small decline with another $20 million in box office receipts. This film took less than a 20% drop in it’s second weekend and can expect to continue this success over the next few weeks. Taken has grossed $53 million to date and is already a big hit for 2009. Continue reading to find out how my predictions held up and how much the other new releases made this weekend.

The other new releases this weekend were the 3D animated film Coraline, Steve Martin’s The Pink Panther 2, and the thriller Push. Coraline saw a strong debut thanks to the higher price tickets for 3D films. The animated movie took in $16.3 million from Friday to Sunday. This was a higher gross than most had expected; but with positive reviews, a kid friendly theme, and 3D glasses, this was a mixture for success. Not all films fared so well this weekend. The Pink Panther 2, the sequel to Steve Martin’s 2006 film failed to live up to expectations. The Pink Panther 2 only made $12 million which was significantly less than the $20 million its predecessor made three years ago. I guess people were just not interested in a sequel to this movie. Faring even worse was the Chris Evans, Dakota Fanning sci-fi thriller, Push which only managed to bring in $10.2 million. Look for this film to be “pushed” out of theaters very soon.

The rest of the weekend box office saw Paul Blart: Mall Cop continuing it’s successful run. The Kevin James comedy grossed another $11 million which was more money than Push made, and just slightly less than The Pink Panther 2. Let me remind you Mall Cop is on it’s 4th week in theaters.

On Friday I made my predictions for what would be the top five films this weekend. This weekends box office was full of surprises and disappointments. My prediction for He’s Just Not That Into You was $23 million and a number one spot. I was only slightly off as I underestimated the power of the romantic comedy which made $27 million in three days. I completely overestimated The Pink Panther 2 which failed to live up to anyone’s expectations with a gross of only $12 million (I estimated $20 million). Taken held up better than expected (my prediction: $14 million, actual gross: $20 million) and Coraline did slightly better than I anticipated (my prediction: $12 million, acutal gross: $16 million). However the one film which I predicted would fail miserably was Push (my prediction: $11 million, actual gross: $10 million.)

Here is a list of the top 5 films for the weekend of February 6-8:

1.) He’s Just Not That Into You            $27

2.) Taken                                          $20

3.) Coraline                                       $16

4.) The Pink Panther 2                        $12

5.) Paul Blart: Mall Cop                        $11

Check back with us next week as we predict and report the weekend box office for Friday the 13th, Confessions of a Shopaholic, and The International.