#BOXOFFICE: “DIE HARD” FANS RULE THE BOX OFFICE ON VALENTINE’S DAY WEEKEND

Interestingly enough on President’s Day/Valentine’s Day weekend, Moviegoers opted for action instead of Romance, making the latest in the long-running Die Hard Franchise, the number one Film in North America. The Action Flick starring Bruce Willis grosses $28.2 million from 3,552 theatres between Thursday through Sunday. Audiences responded well with a B+ CinemaScore for the 20th Century Fox release, while Critics panned it with 17% on the Tomatometer. The Film falls just short of its highest-grossing Live Free or Die Hard, which opened with $33 million back in 2007.

Still going strong is Universal Pictures’ Identity Thief in second spot with $27.6 million in its second week of release, from 3,165 theatres, undoubtedly helped by Critic Rex Reed‘s controversial remarks about Melissa McCarthy‘s weight giving it some added buzz.

Although it kicked-off with a bang on Valentine’s Day, Safe Haven from eOne Films/Relativity Media,  earns $25.4 million this four-day weekend.  The Romantic- Thriller starring Josh Duhamel and Julianne Hough might not have fared well with Critics with an 18% rating on the Tomatometer, but audiences enjoyed it with a B+ CinemaScore. Perhaps overseas it will fare better or even it its second run on Video-on-Demand/DVD/Blu-ray.

On a weekend lacking Family-oriented choices, Escape from Planet Earth from The Weinstein Co./eOne Films grosses $20.5 million from 3,288 theatres.  The Canadian Animated Feature which contains the voice work of Jessica Alba, Ricky Gervais, Brendan Fraser, Rob Corddry and Sophia Vergara didn’t get critical love, but it does receive at B+ CinemaScore. The Film looks to be a profitable venture, made for $40 million and likely to recoup that over the next couple weeks.

Warm Bodies is proving to be a great hit with Moviegoers, earning $10.9 million in fifth this weekend for eOne Films/Lionsgate Films in this its third week out, an option for those looking for a bit of Romance but less tears than Safe Haven.

Beautiful Creatures surprisingly opens in sixth spot for Warner Bros. with only $8.5 million from 2,950 theatres and many are saying that Director/Writer Richard LaGravenese taking some liberties with this Film Adaptation have deterred Fans of the Novel. Overall audiences reacted fairly well with a B CinemaScore.

In its second week, the excellent Side Effects is in seventh spot for eOne Films/Open Road Films, earning $7.3 million for a cumulative total of $19.6 million.  This places it just ahead of Silver Linings Playbook which benefited from its Romantic appeal this weekend, earning and awesome $7.2 million in its 14th – yes you read that right – 14th week of release.  The David O. Russell Film is just fractionally shy of the $100-million mark domestically.

Best Picture Contender Zero Dark Thirty  rounds-out the Top Ten with $3.5 million this weekend in its ninth week of release.