President’s Day weekend is typically a strong time for the box office, however, this weekend slightly underperformed. Despite the diverse slate of new releases in action film “A Good Day to Die Hard,” romance film “Safe Haven,” animated film “Escape From Planet Earth” and drama “Beautiful Creatures,” this weekend’s box office was down roughly 13 percent from the same period last year.

Twentieth Century Fox’s “A Good Day to Die Hard,” starring Bruce Willis, took the top spot with $28.6 million during the four-day weekend. Though this figure is less than 2007’s “Live Free or Die Hard” (33.4 million), the opening gross is respectable, given the franchise is in its fourth decade.

Additionally, unlike the recent films from aging stars like Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger, Bruce Willis still appears to be a draw for moviegoers. What’s especially noteworthy is that even though critics were not too fond of the film (16 percent on Rotten Tomatoes), the film will still be quite profitable for Twentieth Century Fox, given the strength of overseas markets.

Taking the third spot was Relativity’s “Safe Haven” with a respectable $24.5 million. The film stars Julianne Hough and Josh Duhamel, and is a quintessential romantic drama flick about a woman who confronts her dark secrets after bonding with a widower. Even though Rotten Tomatoes gave the film an embarrassing 12 percent, audiences (71 percent female) enjoyed the movie, most likely as a result of Valentine’s Day.

Opening at fourth place with $21.1 million was The Weinstein Company’s “Escape from Planet Earth.” Though the studio spent little effort on an effective marketing campaign, the film was able to surpass $21 million its opening weekend, mainly because it was the only new animated and family film available for audiences.

While this opening debut is lower than the $35-$40 million openings of typical kid films, the film should be profitable, given the fact there are no slated kid films for the next few weeks. Thus, Weinstein may have a chance to recoup its $70 million investment ($40 million production budget, $30 million prints and advertising budget) and maintain profitability.

The final new release in the top 10 was Warner Bros.’ “Beautiful Creatures,” which opened with a disappointing $8.95 million. Even though the popular book series has a large, dedicated fan base, these fans did not turn out to see the film version.

Despite Warner Bros.’ marketing campaign through social media — Instagram production photos, Facebook contests and Twitter interviews — fans were turned off by the filmmakers’ decision to alter the book, weary from the whole “Twilight” craze. Warner Bros. executives must be regretting their decision to set the film’s production budget at $60 million.

— Written by Ian Tecklin, staff writer, ijteckli@syr.edu

Published on February 20, 2013 at 11:06 pm