Liam Neeson’s ‘The Grey’ Leads Box Office


Liam Neeson’s “The Grey” topped this weekend’s box office with $20 million.

Neeson’s latest movie opened with better numbers than expected but still didn’t live up to the action star’s previous Winter releases. The Associated Press reports that Taken opened with $24.7 million and “Unknown” opened with $21.9 million. All three movies had a January-February release.

“The Grey” is only the second release from Open Roads, a newly formed company by Regal Entertainment and AMC. The success of “The Grey” should make it easier for Open Roads to get big funding in the future.

Jeff Bock, a box-office analyst for Exhibitor Relations Co. told the Associated Press:

“Regal and AMC can go back to Hollywood and say, ‘See, these are the kinds of movies people want to see.’ It’s a real coup for them that they got Neeson for this role.”

Here’s the trailer for “The Grey.”

“Underworld: Awakenings,” took second with $12.5 million in its second weekending, bringing its total up to $45.1 million.

“One for the Money” took the third spot this weekend with $11.8 million ahead of “Red Tails” with $10.4 million and “Man the Ledge” with $8.4 million.

Oscar contenders also saw a boost this weekend. “The Descendants” and “Extremely Loud Incredibly Close” both saw big weekends while The Weinstein Company’s “The Artist” added 235 countries to bring in $3.3 million. “The Artist” is now showing on a modest 897 screens but the Oscar buzz is starting to generate ticket sales.

Erik Loomis, head of distribution for the Weinstein Co., said:

“It’s not the same type of picture as any other picture in the marketplace. Now that the nominations are out, we’re going to look to capitalize on it as best we can. … We’re being very, very meticulous with it. We’re not throwing it out there and grabbing every theater we can. At some point, we’ll open the floodgates on the movie, maybe closer to the awards.”

Have you gone to the movies lately?

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