'Gnomeo' Tops US B-O by Default

FEB 28, 2011 - The comedy Hall Pass opened below par among comparable comedies over the Oscar weekend at the North American box-office. It collected US$13.4 million - way below Gnomeo and Juliet which was on its third weekend.

However, the biggest disappointment of the weekend was Drive Angry, which inspired little road rage at the cineplexes, clocking an estimated US$5.1 million on close to 2,500 screens at 2,290 locations and ranking No. 9 on the list. That's the weakest launch yet for a major release in the 3D format, and another blow to Nicolas Cage's career. The last Cage movie, Season of the Witch, made US$10.6 million in its first weekend.

Here are the Top 5 North American B-O studio estimates for Feb 25 - 27, 2011 weekend, in terms of rank, Movie name (studio), Weekend takings in USD, (Cumulative gross, USD) and week on chart, courtesy of Boxofficemojo.

1. Gnomeo and Juliet (BV) $14.2 million ($75.1 million) 3

2. Hall Pass (WB) $13.4 million ($13.4 million) 1

3. Unknown (WB) $12.4 million ($42.8 million) 2

4. Just Go With It (Sony) $11.1 million ($79.3 million) 3

5 . I Am Number Four (BV) $11 million ($37.7 million) 2