FRIDAY BOX OFFICE: Holdover 'Identity Thief' #1; 'Snitch' & 'Dark Skies' Open Weak

SATURDAY 12:45 PM UPDATE: Seriously, why do studios open movies on Oscar weekend? With attention otherwise diverted, it's hard for me or Hollywood to care about these two newcomers Friday. Audiences didn't either. That's why the Melissa McCarthy/Jason Bateman starrer Identity Thief will be #1 with $4.0M entering its third weekend and at least $13M through Sunday. One rival studio thinks the frenemies comedy did more Friday and can exceed $20M this weekend. Let's see. After that there's a lot of confusion over numbers and placements. Full analysis later today.

Summit Entertainment/Lionsgate's father/son actioner Snitch (2,511 theaters) opened #2 with $3.7M Friday and looks like a mediocre $10.5M weekend. That's a rare failure for Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson. (No harm, no foul: I hear he really excels in surefire hit Fast & Furious 6.) Audiences gave Snitch a 'B'  CinemaScore which won't help or hurt the pic. Relativity's Safe Haven was close behind with $3.5M for #3 Friday. Dimension Films/The Weinstein Company's new extraterrestrial thriller Dark Skies (2,313 theaters) is from Paranormal Activity's Jason Blum so should have opened better than $3.2m Friday. It received only a 'C+' CinemaScore from audiences to hurt word of mouth for just an expected $9M weekend. Worse among the holdovers is Twentieth Century Fox's first-place finisher from last weekend, A Good Day To Die Hard, which fell apart Friday and will struggle through Sunday. Guess those horrible reviews finally caught up with it. Total moviegoing this weekend looks $100M, or down -25% compared to last year. Here's the Top Ten based on Friday estimates:

1. Identity Thief (Universal) Week 3 [Runs 3,222]
Friday $4.0M, Weekend $13M, Cume $95.0M

2. Snitch (Summit/Lionsgate) NEW [Runs 2,511]
Friday $3.7M, Weekend $10.5M

3. Safe Haven (Relativity) Week 2 [3,223]
Friday $3.5M (-51%), Weekend $10.5M, Cume $48.0M

4. Dark Skies (Dimension/Weinstein) NEW [Runs 2,313]
Friday $3.2M, Weekend $9.0M

5. A Good Day To Die Hard (Fox) Week 2 [Runs 3,555]
Friday $2.8M (-61%), Weekend $9.2M, Cume $51.0M

6. Escape From Planet Earth (Weinstein) Week 2 [Runs 3,353]
Friday $2.3M (-36%), Weekend $10M, Cume $34.1M

7. Silver Linings Playbook (Weinstein) Week 15 [Runs 2,012]
Friday $1.6M, Weekend $5.8M, Cume $107.2M

8. Warm Bodies (Summit/Lionsgate) Week 4 [Runs 2,644]
Friday $1.4M, Weekend $4.3M, Cume $57.7M

9. Beautiful Creatures (Warner Bros) Week 2 [Runs 2,950]
Friday $1.1M (-54%), Weekend $3.5M, Cume $16.4M

10. Side Effects (Open Road) Week 3 [Runs 2,070]
Friday $1.0M, Weekend $3.0M, Cume $24.7M

For more estimates listed by title, see box office results here...

Editor-in-Chief Nikki Finke - tip her here.

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