#BOXOFFICE: JESSICA CHASTAIN NABS TOP TWO SPOTS AT BOX OFFICE WITH “MAMA” AND “ZERO DARK THIRTY”

Jessica Chastain, Box Office Queen.  The Best Actress Frontrunner in record time has gone from obscurity straight to the top, occupying both the top two spots at the Box Office this weekend with Mama and Zero Dark Thirty.  The former, produced by Guillermo del Toro  and filmed in Toronto, earns $28.1 million from 2,647 theatres for Universal Pictures/eOne Films, securing its place at the top, while the latter nabs second spot with $17.6 million. Zero Dark Thirty to date has grossed $59 million for Sony Pictures/Alliance Films domestically.  Mama‘s performance bodes well for the City as a destination for filming, proving we have the resources to make a top-placing Film. Critics gave it generally positive reviews, garnering 63% on the Tomatometer.  2011 Horror Flick Dream House from Universal Pictures/eOne Films, filmed in the City, didn’t fare quite as well critically and commercially.  Mama Star Nickolaj Coster-Waldau was recently in Toronto. Find out how to win a Photo signed by him here.

After a bit of dawdling, Silver Linings Playbook gets its due success in its tenth week of release, expanding to 2,523 theatres, earning $11.3 million for The Weinstein Co./Alliance Films – good enough for third.  This undoubtedly was aided by both its recent Golden Globes exposure with Jennifer Lawrence winning Actress in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy, and also its Best Picture Nomination for the Oscars.

Gangster Squad performs steadily in fourth with $9.1 million in its second week for Warner Bros, just ahead of  Broken City, starring Russell Crowe and Mark Wahlberg, debuting in fourth with $9 million.  The Action-Drama earned a 25% rating on Rotten Tomatoes’ Tomatometer.

Debuting at number two last week, Horror Spoof A Haunted House slips to sixth this weekend with $8.3 million for Open Road Films.  The Film which parodies Paranormal Activity and The Devil Inside, opens in Canada next Friday via VVS Films.

Meanwhile, Oscar Contenders Django Unchained and Les Misérables are still performing respectably thanks to the Oscars and Golden Globes boost, placing them seventh with $8.2 million and eighth with $7.8 million respectively.  Former three-week Champ The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey earns $6.4 million for Warner Bros.

Arnold Schwarzenegger‘s return to the Big Screen wasn’t so heroic, opening in tenth with $6 million.  Critics however, weren’t all too disapproving as it earned mixed Reviews at best with 56% on the Tomatometer.