Saeed Adyani/Lionsgate, Dark Fields Productions
Bradley Cooper had a couple of duds in a row.
Matthew McConaughey hadn't been on screen in a couple of years.
This box-office weekend, one leading man was back at No. 1.
The other was, well, No. 4.
RELATED: So, are Limitless and Lincoln Lawyer any good?
Cooper moved past Case 39 and The A-Team, and nabbed the top spot with an estimated $19 million for his new pill thriller, Limitless.
McConaughey, meanwhile, got stuck in the standings behind holdovers Rango and Battle: Los Angeles, as his critically well-regarded Lincoln Lawyer, his first new release since 2009's Ghosts of Girlfriends Past, stalled in its debut.
Overall, it was another lost weekend for Hollywood. A year ago, Alice in Wonderland was wowing on its way to a blockbuster a billion-dollar worldwide gross; this weekend, Limitless was wowing by making good on its tight budget. (The film only did cost a reported $27 million, so, dollar-wise, its performance was impressive, but still…)
With an estimated price tag of $40 million, Lincoln Lawyer, which opened up with just $13.4 million, couldn't even take comfort in its financials.
Elsewhere, the offbeat alien comedy Paul was somewhat more successful than last weekend's intergalactic entry, Mars Needs Moms, but that's not saying much. After two weekends, the $150 million Mars Needs Moms has "grossed" $23.2 million worldwide.
In limited release, the Paul Giamatti indie comedy Win Win was a star, averaging more than $30,000 at each of its five theaters. (By comparison, Limitless averaged about $7,000.)
Adam Sandler's and Jennifer Aniston's Just Go With It exited the Top 10 after five weekends, and a $98 million take. If it hangs in there like Bedtime Stories and You Don't Mess With the Zohan, both of which dropped out of the Top 10 shy of $100 million, it'll become Sandler's 13th nine-figure-grossing comedy.
The Oscar glow was finally gone from The King's Speech, which fell from the Top 10 after 10 weekends. So far, the little $15 million drama has grossed a huge $339 million worldwide, per Box Office Mojo.
Here's a complete rundown of the top-grossing films, per Friday-Sunday numbers as compiled by Exhibitor Relations.
- Limitless, $19 million
- Rango, $15.3 million
- Battle: Los Angeles, $14.6 million
- Lincoln Lawyer, $13.4 million
- Paul, $13.2 million
- Red Riding Hood, $7.3 million
- The Adjustment Bureau, $5.9 million
- Mars Needs Moms, $5.3 million
- Beastly, $3.3 million
- Hall Pass, $2.6 million
eonline.com
