Liam Neeson broke bricks this weekend as his latest thriller Non-Stop debuted in first place with an estimated $30 million. As a US air marshal, Neeson finds himself on a commercial plane threatened by a terrorist via text messages. The actor knocked his other film, The LEGO Movie out of top spot after three weeks at number one.
Religious drama, Son of God raised itself to second place with a $26.5 million opening. Son of God is an edited version of last year’s The Bible, highlighting the life of Jesus. Both these new releases sent reigning champ, The LEGO Movie to third in its fourth outing. The animated hit crossed $200 million over the weekend.
The Monuments Men jumps one spot to fourth place, pulling in another $5 million. McG action film, 3 Days to Kill dropped the hardest out of the top releases from second to fifth for a $4.9 million haul.
Note: These #’s are based on Sunday’s projections and can change with Monday’s actual #’s.
#1 – Non-Stop (NR)
$30.0 million / $30.0 million total
Unlike Kevin Costner last weekend, Liam Neeson continues to be a box office draw. His latest film Non-Stop secured another top opener for the 61-year-old actor. Non-Stop is Neeson’s third film of 2014 already after voice work in The Nut Job and The LEGO Movie. He’s remains a hot commodity after huge hits like Taken and Clash of the Titans. Non-Stop, however, won’t finish in that ballpark, though a $80 million run is still commendable.
#2 – Son of God (NR)
$26.5 million / $26.5 million total
For box office pundits out there, Son of God was the wild card of the weekend. For my box office predictions, I had Son of God pegged at $16.2 million over the weekend. It was not going to be another Passion of the Christ hit as I previously stated. However, what made it difficult to predict whether moviegoers knew this was an edited version of last year’s The Bible mini-series. Son of God has the potential for a leggy run due its religious season release.
#3 – The LEGO Movie (1)
$21.0 million / $209.3 million total
There’s some good news and bad news for The LEGO Movie. The animated film couldn’t construct a clean sweep in February. However, the film has become the first $200 million film of 2014 and in faster time than last night’s big winners Gravity and Frozen. This Friday, The LEGO Movie does face Mr. Peabody and Sherman from Dreamworks. It’s a crucial weekend for this film and could spell out the rest of its theatrical run.
#4 – The Monuments Men (5)
$5.0 million / $65.7 million total
Surprisingly enough, The Monuments Men jumped one spot from last weekend. The George Clooney World War II film continues to march towards $70 million. It should be cross that milestone in two weeks or less. I guess moving The Monuments Men back to February wasn’t such a bad move after all.
#5 – 3 Days to Kill (2)
$4.9 million / $20.7 million total
3 Days to Kill was the only film in the Top 20 to drop 60% this weekend. That’s about on par with McG’s Terminator Salvation from 2009. Negative reviews haven’t helped to sustain an audience. Expect a massive drop in theaters this Friday and another 60% or higher drop over the weekend. A finish slightly above $25 million is possible.
Opening Next Week: 300: Rise of an Empire, Mr. Peabody and Sherman, The Grand Budapest Hotel (limited)
Source: Box Office Mojo
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Matt Marshall is a YouTube movie reviewer who hosts MNMreviews. He has a B.A. in Communications/Journalism from St. John Fisher College and resides in Rochester, NY.
