The first weekend after the Oscar nominations is here, and what did audiences vote for? “Ride Along.” The Ice Cube/Kevin Hart team up comedy made Universal very happy, pocketing over $40 million in its first weekend, marking a strong start for the movie, which should have great legs with audiences, who gave it an A-grade CinemaScore. And overall, the multiplexes were busy with audiences making it the second best Martin Luther King holiday-weekend in history.
However, for the Oscar nominees, the news was not as good. Only “American Hustle” and “12 Years A Slave” saw a bump in ticket sales, while everyone else in the Best Picture field saw their numbers drop.
And it wasn’t good news over at Paramount either, as they saw their franchise vehicle “Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit” effectively tank with a fourth place opening, not even coming close to cracking $20 million and pretty much guaranteeing they’ll have to try rebooting this reboot in a few years all over again. Also opening: “The Nut Job” stole some family audiences away from “Frozen,” opening in third place, though the Disney flick powered along to enter the top 20 of all time. The cheapie horror, usually a staple of the empty early winter months, flopped with “Devil’s Due,” debuting near the bottom of the top ten. Full chart below.
1. Ride Along $41.2 million
2. Lone Survivor $23.2 million ($74 mil)
3. The Nut Job $20.5 million
4. Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit $17.2 million
5. Frozen $11.9 million ($332.6 mil)
6. American Hustle $10.6 million ($116.4 mil)
7. Devil’s Due $8.5 million
8. August: Osage County $7.5 million ($18.1 mil)
9. The Wolf Of Wall Street $7.5 million ($90.2 mil)
10. Saving Mr. Banks $4.1 million ($75.3 mil)
