Identity Thief Steals US Box Office Crown

It might be one of Hollywood’s exciting nights, when the awards backslappery reaches fever pitch for The Oscars, but there wasn’t much to celebrate from the US box office this weekend. The new movies were laid low by Jason Bateman/Melissa McCarthy comedy Identity Thief, which bounded back into the top spot with $14 million.

Even the mighty shoulders of Dwayne Johnson couldn’t help propel Snitch into first place, with the crime drama settling for second and $13 million. That put it ahead of ‘toon Escape From Planet Earth, which took $11 million in third, Safe Haven in fourth with $10.6 million and A Good Day To Die Hard, which began to fall quickly after opening at the top last weekend, landing in fifth with $10 million.

Spooky thriller Dark Skies couldn’t scare up much interest either: the new Blumhouse film only managed $8.8 million in sixth place. Silver Linings Playbook jumped back up one place to seventh, scoring $6 million while Warm Bodies was eighth with $4.7 million. Side Effects was ninth, taking home $3.5 million, and Beautiful Creatures dropped like a stone from sixth to 10th with $3.4 million.