February 10, 2014 by Vinnie Leduc
The Lego Movie, an honorable mention for one of our most anticipated movies of 2014, enjoyed an awesome opening at the domestic box office over the weekend. Its debut was the second-highest ever in the month of February (trailing only Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ) and the fourth-highest ever for an animated movie that’s not a sequel or prequel.
The 3D adventure comedy isn’t just a commercial success; it’s a critical one, too, as one of the best reviewed animated movies of all time. George Clooney’s fifth directorial effort, The Monuments Men, wasn’t as lucky as it debuted in a distant second place. The star-studded war dramedy reportedly cost more to make than The Lego Movie, and it received mostly negative to mixed reviews. However, it was Clooney’s highest opening for a film that he directed.
Kevin Hart and Ice Cube buddy cop comedy Ride Along, the reigning three-time champ that set a January opening record last month, parked into third place in its fourth weekend as it became the first 2014 movie to cruise past the $100 million milestone.
In fourth place was Disney’s Oscar-nominated hit musical Frozen. After an astonishing 12 weeks of release, the 3D computer-animated family film, which had some of the best 3D of last year, passed Despicable Me 2 to become the third-highest grossing movie of 2013 at the domestic box office.
Rounding out the top five, which you can check out below via BOM, was Oscar-nominated war movie Lone Survivor in its seventh weekend. This contributed to the sucky opening of yet another young-adult adaptation, Vampire Academy, which debuted in seventh.
The upcoming remake-crowded Valentine’s Day weekend includes a triple-threat of romantic movies that will try to block The Lego Movie from repeating. Kevin Hart attempts to reclaim the box office throne in rom-com remake About Last Night, Colin Farrell headlines the supernatural literary adaptation of Winter’s Tale, and Alex Pettyfer attracts teenage girls in remake Endless Love. Our #11 most anticipated movie of 2014, the RoboCop remake, gets a head start on Wednesday as some well-timed counter-marketing.
- The Lego Movie — Weekend Gross: $69.1 million — Total Gross: $69.1 million (new)
- The Monuments Men — Weekend Gross: $22.0 million — Total Gross: $22.0 million (new)
- Ride Along — Weekend Gross: $9.6 million — Total Gross: $105.3 million (#1 last week)
- Frozen — Weekend Gross: $6.9 million — Total Gross: $368.6 million (#2 last week)
- Lone Survivor — Weekend Gross: $5.6 million — Total Gross: $112.9 million (#2 last week)
