When it comes to the weekend box office, the story sometimes means more than the rankings.
That was the case this week. While “Ender’s Game” predictably won the box office, its $28 million take epitomized the word modest. Consistent with late expectations but far less than what seemed possible when the film first launched, the total contributes nothing towards the crowning of “Ender’s” as a hit.
“Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa,” on the other hand, settled for second but did so with an impressive gross. With $20.5 million in receipts, the film retained 64% of last week’s total and thus demonstrated the positive impact of word-of-mouth.
New releases “Last Vegas” ($16.5 million) and “Free Birds” ($16.2 million) followed, while smash hit “Gravity” added $13.1 million to its take for fifth place.
Two places back was critically acclaimed “12 Years a Slave,” which earned $4.6 million after expanding into 410 theatres.
