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Nicolas Cage's Drive Angry is lowlight of Academy Awards weekend, grossing $5.1 million, a box-office low for a major 3-D release

By Joal Ryan Mar 01, 2011 8:00 AMTags
Drive Angry 3DSummit Entertainment

UPDATE: Hall Pall took the No. 1 spot over Gnomeo & Juliet, $13.5 million to $13.4 million, final numbers released Monday showed.

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It's a good thing Hollywood has the Academy Awards to feel good about tonight because the box office didn't bring the joy.

In fact, the box office didn't bring much of anything—except an epic fail. Which new movie bombed?

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Drive Angry, the reputedly $75 million Nicolas Cage 3-D road-rage flick, grossed just $5.1 million Friday-Sunday, estimates said.

That's the worst debut on record for a 3-D film opening on at least 2,000 screens, per a Box Office Mojo chart. It's also the worst debut ever for a Cage movie at that many theaters. 

Drive Angry was so mild it grossed just $1.6 million on its opening day, and is on track to gross just $1.3 million today.

Hall Pass, the other new major release, did much better, but didn't make Hollywood feel much better. The Owen Wilson-Jason Sudeikis comedy debuted in second with a so-so $13.4 million.

Gnomeo & Juliet  took advantage of the weak competition (and animation's staying power) to take the No. 1 spot in its third weekend in release.

The so-called "fan cut" of the Justin Bieber 3-D concert film didn't make much noise. But Never Say Never, on the whole, has refused to quit, and has grossed nearly $63 million overall.

The King's Speech, now at $114.5 million overall, saw ticket sales bump up, presumably as Oscar fans got a last look at the presumed Best Picture frontrunner.

Here's a complete rundown of the top-grossing films, per Friday-Sunday numbers as compiled by Exhibitor Relations.

  1. Gnomeo & Juliet, $14.2 million
  2. Hall Pass, $13.4 million
  3. Unknown, $12.4 million 
  4. Just Go With It, $11.1 million
  5. I Am Number Four, $11 million
  6. Justin Bieber: Never Say Never, $9.2 million
  7. The King's Speech, $7.6 million
  8. Big Mommas: Like Father, Like Son, $7.55 million
  9. Drive Angry, $5.1 million
  10. The Roommate, $2 million

(Originally published Feb. 27, 2011 at 11:50 a.m. PT.)