Box Office News: Bradley Cooper’s ‘Limitless’ Lands Weak Top Spot

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CHICAGO – With the NCAA tournament distracting the nation’s attention and a lackluster group of new options at the multiplex, Bradley Cooper’s “Limitless” climbed to the top of a very weak top ten for the weekend of Mar. 17-19, 2011 with only $19 million. New films from Matthew McConaughey (“The Lincoln Lawyer”) and Simon Pegg (“Paul”) disappointed even more.

Limitless Photo credit: Relativity Media

When is a number one opening still disappointing? When it can’t break $20 million. To be fair, “Limitless” was a production of a new company called Relativity Media and it’s arguably the first time that Cooper had to carry a film this completely and so producers are probably happy with a $19 million three-day gross. Kyle Davies, President of Theatrical Distribution for Relativity, was happy, telling Hollywood Reporter, “Bradley Cooper is a movie star, while Robert De Niro is an icon. You add these stars to a film that has a very unique take on the traditional thriller genre, and Limitless became a movie for everyone.” The trade is reporting that the film only cost $30 million, meaning it’s definitely a hit when it comes to the bottom line.

As for the other new releases, “The Lincoln Lawyer” and “Paul” were neck-and-neck, grossing $13.4 million and $13.2 million, respectively. Both films (and “Limitless”) scored well in CinemaScore, which means holdover could be strong. “Lincoln Lawyer” even increased Friday-to-Saturday, indicating building interest and potential word-of-mouth. Strong reviews overall could have been a factor there as well and the film should hold strong.

Neither of those two movies could best holdovers “Rango” and “Battle: Los Angeles,” which grossed $15.3 million and $14.6 million, respectively. The cartoon fell a very respectable 32%, as family films often decline at a slower rate than other fare, while the horrendous “Battle” dropped a deserving 58%.

The rest of the top ten were filled out by “Red Riding Hood” ($7.3 million, $26 million total), “The Adjustment Bureau” ($5.9 million, $48.8 million total), “Mars Needs Moms” ($5.3 million, $15.4 million total), “Beastly” ($3.2 million, $22.2 million total), and “Hall Pass” ($2.6 million, $39.6 million total).

Overall, business was down 10% from last year (although “Avatar” and “Alice in Wonderland” boosted last year’s first quarter immensely above average).

Next week sees the release of two very different wide releases — “Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules” and “Sucker Punch”.

By BRIAN TALLERICO Content Director HollywoodChicago.com brian@hollywoodchicago.com