The Liam Neeson action-thriller Unknown overtook the Alex Pettyfer sci-fi adventure I Am Number Four at the Friday box office, grossing $6.7 million from 3,043 theaters for Warner Bros. and Joel Silver’s Dark Castle.
I Am Number Four, from DreamWorks and Touchstone, grossed an estimated $6.2 million from 3,154 theaters. Pic is the first DreamWorks title to be distributed by Touchstone under Disney’s output deal with Steven Spielberg and Stacey Snider’s company.
Box office observers aren’t ready to call the weekend race between Unknown and Number Four, since bad weather on the West Coast affected Friday’s grosses, although some are now betting onUnknown, which should open in the mid $20 millions over the four day President’s Day weekend.
Heading into the holiday, tracking showed Number Four in the lead. Unknown’s strong showing is similar to Neeson’s Taken, which was a sleeper box office hit.
Elsewhere at the box office on Friday, Sony’s Adam Sandler-Jennifer Aniston romantic comedy Just Go With It came in No. 3, falling only 44% from the previous Friday to an estimated $5.3 million for a cume of $47.9 million.
Big Mommas: Like Father, Like Son, from 20th Century Fox and New Regency, opened at No. 4, grossing an estimated $4.8 million from 2,821 theaters.
Disney’s Gnomeo & Juliet beat Paramount’s Justin Bieber: Never Say Never to come in No. 5, grossing an estimated $4.3 million from 3,014 theaters for a cume of $35.3 million.
Never Say Never had a big fall in its second week, as expected. The movie fell 69% to an estimated $3.8 million from 3,118 theaters for a cume of $38.7 million.
The Weinstein Co.’s The King’s Speech will jump the $100 million mark at the domestic box office this weekend. The awards contender grossed an estimated $1.5 million on Friday for a cume of $98.2 million.