‘Ride Along’ Cruises to Repeat Box Office Win, ‘I, Frankenstein’ DOA

  The second box office casualty of 2014 was unveiled this weekend, with gothic actionier I, Frankenstein joining The Legend of Hercules as certified domestic flops in this snowy month of January. Meanwhile, capitalizing on the lack of competition and solid word of mouth, Ride Along once again took the top spot while Oscar hopefuls all experienced small declines. Dipping by just under a half, Ride Along seized another $21.2 million putting its tally at a robust $75.4 million after claiming the best January debut of all time one week ago. With these numbers, expect the buddy cop comedy to cruise past the $100 million mark which will not only be a win for Universal but also for star Kevin Hart who with this performance should see a future outside of his renowned stand-up career solidified. Universal also clinched the number two position with the continued strong showing of Lone Survivor which added $12.6 million for a $93.6 million cume (also well on its way to the century club). This has been the first time since 1994 that a studio has held the top two spots for two weeks in a row. The Top 10  1. Ride Along – $21.2M (weekend)…$75.4M (cume) 2. Lone Survivor – $12.6M…$93.6M 3. The Nut Job – $12.3M…$40.3M 4. Frozen – $9.0M…$347.8M 5. Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit – 8.8M…$30.1M 6. I, Frankenstein – $8.3M…$8.3M 7. American Hustle – $7.1M...$127.0M 8. August: OsageCounty – $5.0M…$26.5M 9. The Wolf of Wall Street – $5.0M…$98.0M 10. Devil’s Due – $2.7M…$12.9M  

  Lone newcomer I, Frankenstein placed an embarrassing sixth with just $8.3 million, which clearly did not capitalize on the Underworld tie-ins featured prominently in the trailers, a franchise which saw all its entries debut to over $20 million. Unproven starpower in lead Aaron Eckhart, vague, derivative trailers, ample competition and horrendous reviews all contributed to this blip of an opening. Nearly all the holdovers in the top 10 saw small declines fuelled by the momentary stop of NFL Football and the aforementioned lack of appealing new offerings. Frozen in particular wowed, ranked sixth all time for its haul of $9.0 million in its eight frame pushing its total to a huge $347.8 million and over $800 million worldwide. Next weekend, two new entries join the fray, likely to be lead by That Awkward Moment which offers fresh talent and a male centric spin on the rom-com. Meanwhile director Jason Reitman’s Labor Day with Kate Winslet and Josh Brolin will target adult crowds. Though it would be tricky, Ride Along could very well top the charts for a third time as this duo of flicks certainly has few guarantees when it comes to mass appeal.