Battle at the Box Office 2/11

Identity Thief had one of the best openings of the year so far and easily took the top spot at the box office.  Seth Gordon’s latest made $36.6 million, better than his last hit, Horrible Bosses’ opening and even better than Bridesmaids’ opening weekend.  Comedies usually have tremendous staying power and Identity Thief could definitely top $100 million.  Warm Bodies dropped down to second place with another $11.5 million.  The other new release, Side Effects, was a slightly disappointing end to Steven Soderbergh’s feature film career with $10.02 million and third place.  It’s up from Haywire’s opening last year but way down from Soderbergh’s Contagion.  Silver Linings Playbook and Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters rounded out the top 5.  Boosted by it’s award momentum, Argo jumped back up into the top ten, going from 11th to 8th.  Bullet to the Head fell from 6th to 10th and will join The Last Stand as another bomb from an action legend.  In limited release, Top Gun 3D almost made it into the top 10 with $1.9 million in 300 theaters.  Expect everything to drop down at least four spots this coming weekend as there are four movies hitting on Valentine’s Day, including the first potential blockbuster, A Good Day to Die Hard.