By Leonard Klady Klady@moviecitynews.com

The Weekend Report

Despite considerable incoming heat (or because of it) The Lego Movie retained top spot during the Presidents’ Day holiday session with an estimated $48.9 million (all figures reflect the 3-day portion of the session).

The new crew included a potent $26.7 million start for a contemporized version of About Last Night in second spot; fair returns of $20.5 million for a re-engineered RoboCop and disappointment for a new embrace of 1981’s Endless Love and the weekend’s sole screen original Winter’s Tale with respective openers of $13.4 million and $7.5 million.

The new Bollywood entry Gunday was off to OK start of $512,000 at 159 venues and among exclusive debuts the Chinese import Beijing Love Story registered the best response with a $133,000 from a modest nine-screen bow.

Weekend revenues generated about $179 million (projected $210 million for four-day portion) for an impressive 16% uptick from the immediate prior session. It was also 6% improved from 2013 when the launch of A Good Day to Die Hard opened to $24.8 million and Identity Thief edged out freshman Safe Haven with a $23.7 million box office.

After a lull in its release schedule Sony opened two new titles (following on last weekend’s The Monuments Men) to albeit markedly different target audiences. About Last Night, loosely based on an early David Mamet play, was a movie hit back in 1986 with a Brat Pack cast and the new urbanized view looks to repeat that success. Studio exit polls revealed an opening crowd decidedly female with 63% of viewers and 57% aged 30-years and older.

The original RoboCop surfaced in 1987 and a quarter century later, the future law enforcement officer proved to be more brutal in an increasingly grimmer tomorrow. The film got a Wednesday jump start on the competition and entered the weekend with $4.75 million advance. Unsurprisingly it skewed male with 62% of the crowd but attracted an especially older crowd with 64% of buyers aged 25-years and older.

The original Endless Love solidified Brooke Shield’s popularity (and provided Tom Cruise with an early flashy turn) but won’t see a comparable result for Gabriella Wilde. The youthful romance drew in a lopsided 80% female audience with 76% aged 25-years and younger.

The supernatural love story Winter’s Tale got lost in the weekend mix. Its poor performance shouldn’t be attributed specifically to an audience desire to see the familiar. Reviews for the yarn were largely dismissive.

Weekend (estimates) February 14 – 16, 2014
Title Distributor Gross (avg) % chng Thtrs Cume
The Lego Movie WB 48.9 (12,950) -29% 3775 129.2
About Last Night Sony 26.7 (11,840) NEW 2253 26.7
RoboCop Sony 20.5 (6.070) NEW 3372 25.4
The Monuments Men Sony 15.1 (4,890) -32% 3083 43.7
Endless Love Uni 13.4 (4,620) NEW 2896 13.4
Ride Along Uni 8.7 (3,470) -9% 2517 116.1
Winter’s Tale WB 7.5 (2,540) NEW 2965 7.5
Frozen BV 5.9 (2,820) -14% 2101 376.1
Lone Survivor Uni/eOne 4.1 (2,020) -27% 2013 118.4
That Awkward Moment Focus/VVS 3.4 (1,760) -35% 1922 21.4
American Hustle Sony/eOne 2.5 (2.300) -20% 1072 141.5
Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit Par 2.3 (1,790) -35% 1278 47.7
Vampire Academy Weinstein Co. 1.9 (710) -52% 2676 6.6
The Nut Job Open Road/eOne 1.8 (940) -52% 1918 57.6
The Wolf of Wall Street Par 1.8 (2,450) -29% 751 110.6
Philomena Weinstein Co, 1.4 (1,160) 78% 1225 30.5
Labor Day Par 1.3 (760) -60% 1664 12.5
Gravity WB 1.0 (2,760) -41% 355 267.9
August Osage County Weinstein Co. .83 (820) -44% 1010 35.7
Her WB .59 (2,320) -19% 255 23.3
The Hunger Games: Catching Fire Lionsgate .53 (1,640) -19% 326 423.1
12 Years a Slave Fox Searchlight .53 (1,370) -35% 386 48.2
Gunday Yash Raj .51 (3,220) NEW 159 0.51
Nebraska Par .51 (1,560) -28% 324 15.8
The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug WB .50 (1,750) -27% 285 256.1
Dallas Buyers Club Focus/Mongrel .40 (1,780) -35% 223 24.3
Weekend Total ($500,000+ Films) $172.20
% Change (Last Year) 6%
% Change (Last Week) 16%
Also debuting/expanding
Gloria Roadside .30 (3,070) 20% 97 0.94
The Great Beauty Janus/Mongrel .14 (1,920) -8% 75 2.4
Beijing Love Story China Lion .13 (14,790) 9 0.13
The Attorney Well Go .11 (4,450) -48% 25 0.41
The Past Sony Classics .10 (1,250) -7% 77 1
Tim’s Vermeer Sony Classics 54,100 (4,510) 39% 12 0.2
Girl on a Bicycle Monterey 33,800 (820) 41 0.03
Idhu Kathirvelan Kadhal ATMUS 27,900 (1,640) 17 0.03
The Invisible Woman Sony Classics 27,400 (620) -54% 44 1.04
Starting Over Again ABS 7,700 (7,700) 1 0.01
Venus Talk CJ 5,500 (5,500) 1 0.01
Date and Switch Film Arcade 4,600 (460) 10 0.01
Pussy Riot – A Punk Prayer Kino 4,300 (2,150) 2 0.01
Domestic Market Share (January 1 – February 13, 2014)
Distributor (releases) Box Office Mrkt Share
Universal (6) 231.1 19.50%
Paramount (7) 200.6 17.00%
Warner Bros. (5) 180.6 15.30%
Buena Vista (4) 148.2 12.50%
Sony (5) 102.4 8.70%
Lionsgate (6) 71.8 6.10%
Weinstein Co. (5) 54.6 4.60%
20th Century Fox (5) 53.6 4.50%
Open Road (3) 52.4 4.40%
Focus (2) 22.5 1.90%
eOne/Seville (5) 20 1.70%
CBS (2) 10.5 0.90%
Fox Searchlight (2) 9.8 0.80%
Other * (48) 24.4 2.10%
1182.5 100%
Top Domestic Grossers (January 1 – February 13, 2014)
Title Distributor Box Office
Lone Survivor Uni/eOne 114,137,838
Ride Along Uni 107,373,795
Frozen * BV 107,098,566
The Lego Movie WB 80,302,930
American Hustle * Sony/eOne 71,502,071
The Wolf of Wall Street * Par 67,297,197
The Nut Job Open Road/eOne 55,750,656
The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug * WB 54,083,299
Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit Par 45,446,861
Saving Mr. Banks * BV 37,924,912
August: Osage County * Weinstein 34,627,788
Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues * Par 34,314,662
Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones Par 32,406,910
The Monuments Men Sony 28,668,667
The Hunger Games: Catching Fire * Lionsgate 27,049,114
The Secret Life of Walter Mitty * Fox 25,775,674
Her * WB 20,852,461
The Legend of Hercules Lionsgate 18,445,280
That Awkward Moment Focus/VVS 18,062,946
I, Frankenstein Lionsgate 17,864,878
* does not include 2013 box office
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Leonard Klady's Friday Estimates
Friday Screens % Chg Cume
Title Gross Thtr % Chgn Cume
Venom 33 4250 NEW 33
A Star is Born 15.7 3686 NEW 15.7
Smallfoot 3.5 4131 -46% 31.3
Night School 3.5 3019 -63% 37.9
The House Wirh a Clock in its Walls 1.8 3463 -43% 49.5
A Simple Favor 1 2408 -50% 46.6
The Nun 0.75 2264 -52% 111.5
Hell Fest 0.6 2297 -70% 7.4
Crazy Rich Asians 0.6 1466 -51% 167.6
The Predator 0.25 1643 -77% 49.3
Also Debuting
The Hate U Give 0.17 36
Shine 85,600 609
Exes Baggage 75,900 62
NOTA 71,300 138
96 61,600 62
Andhadhun 55,000 54
Afsar 45,400 33
Project Gutenberg 36,000 17
Love Yatri 22,300 41
Hello, Mrs. Money 22,200 37
Studio 54 5,300 1
Loving Pablo 4,200 15
3-Day Estimates Weekend % Chg Cume
No Good Dead 24.4 (11,230) NEW 24.4
Dolphin Tale 2 16.6 (4,540) NEW 16.6
Guardians of the Galaxy 7.9 (2,550) -23% 305.8
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 4.8 (1,630) -26% 181.1
The Drop 4.4 (5,480) NEW 4.4
Let's Be Cops 4.3 (1,570) -22% 73
If I Stay 4.0 (1,320) -28% 44.9
The November Man 2.8 (1,030) -36% 22.5
The Giver 2.5 (1,120) -26% 41.2
The Hundred-Foot Journey 2.5 (1,270) -21% 49.4