Weekend Box Office: Hansel and Gretel Shine, Parker, Movie 43 Tank

By Chris Kavan - 01/27/13 at 10:38 PM CT

It was another rather slow weekend, as only one newcomer managed to make any waves. Due the rather dubious openings, compared to last year at this time the box office was off 10%. The only real bright spots continued to be the strong showings of award-season darlings, but even they can hold only so long.

1) HANSEL AND GRETEL: WITCH HUNTERS

Thanks to a clear marketing campaign and the rising star of Jeremy Renner, the fantasy/action film took the top spot with $19 million. That was a better opening than Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter ($16.3 million) and Brothers Grimm ($15.1 million). While $19 million isn't exactly a huge number, considering how long the film has been in the works, that is actually a pretty good turn. The film cost $50 million, and with a B cinemascore it might be able to come close to that number. Critics may have savaged it with just a 15% average, but this is the kind of film that you don't worry about critical reception - you just want to have a good time. The 3D showings accounted for 66% of the grosses (11% from IMAX) - a decent number considering how disparaging 3D numbers have been recently.

2) MAMA

Last week's top offering fell about 55% to second with $12.86 million to raise its total to $48.6 million. That's a steep drop, but in line with horror films in general. The $15 million budget has already been blown out of the water and, as horror films go, it won't just be the top horror film of 2013, but potentially could beat just about any horror film from last year as well.

3) THE SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK

Holding on surprisingly well, dropping just 7% from last week and staying in third place, the awards magnet brought in $10 million and now stands at $69.46 million. It's still on pace for a $100 million total before the Oscars hit.

4) ZERO DARK THIRTY

The other film with awards ties in the top five dropped a steeper 38% and fell from second to fourth place with $9.8 million. The $69.9 million is still tracking just ahead of Silver Linings, but they will probably switch places by next weekend. While Silver Linings is holding up, Zero Dark Thirty is losing a bit of steam and it may struggle to hit the $100 million mark, though don't count it out.

5) PARKER

It seems audiences have lost their appetite when it comes to Jason Statham. With just $7 million - lower than Safe's $7.9 million (and also considered a disappointment), it's looking like Statham's schtick is wearing thin. Apparently you can't just kick your way to box office greatness. The only bright side is that the film did earn a decent B+ from audiences - but it shouldn't climb much higher than $20 million.

Outside the top 10 - Movie 43, the comedy anthology starring just about everyone in Hollywood, was a major flop coming in 7th with just $5 million. Good thing the film cost just $6 million to make, though this has got to be a low point for a lot of people involved with this failed experiment and just goes to show that comedy variety is hard (by comparison, Disaster Movie made $5.8 million).

Next week the zom-rom-com Warm Bodies hits theaters, along with Sylvester Stallone, hoping to have more success than Arnold Schwarzenegger in Bullet to the Head and a bunch of big name actors playing aged hitmen in Stand Up Guys. Do any of these stand a chance with fickle audiences? Stay tuned.

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