weekend box office

Like any holiday that sees families congregating together and then desperately seeking activities where they don't have to talk to each other for two hours, this Easter weekend saw a strong bump at the box office thanks to a few new contenders and a handful of holdovers with some surprising staying power.

You can't imagine two films more different than 'The Croods' and 'Olympus Has Fallen,' but right now the two of them sit on top of the box office chart, both temporarily linked by the fact that a bunch of people apparently wanted to see them this weekend. It's the first time in forever that two films have opened to over $30 million at the same time...but it wasn't golden for all of the new release

For the second week in a row, 'Oz the Great and Powerful' lived up to its title and dominated the box office. One of the newcomers managed to fare surprisingly well in the face of Sam Raimi's blockbuster...but another simply got crushed.

After a series of increasingly dire weeks at the box office, 'Oz the Great and Powerful' arrived and shook things up in a major way, earning the first truly massive opening weekend of 2013 and setting the table for all kinds of Oz-related content in the near future. Whether that's a good thing or a bad thing is something that we'll let you judge.

Is Melissa McCarthy a movie star yet? The opening weekend of 'Identity Thief' suggests that yes, she is. After all, all of those people weren't flocking to this movie because of Jason Bateman (as delightful as he is). Anyway, all of this pretty much means that McCarthy's asking price just doubled.

Eventually, the popular opinion on zombies is going to shift and people are going to stop watching 'The Walking Dead' and buying zombie-themed video games, but that day is not today. People still love zombies and if the opening weekend is any indication, they love 'Warm Bodies.'

Is Jessica Chastain a movie star? Probably not. At least not yet. However, this weekend proved that she's well on her way to being one. Headlining the top two films  at the box office in a single weekend is a great start. The Oscar nomination certainly doesn't hurt either.

You really only need to say one thing about the opening weekend of Kathryn Bigelow's 'Zero Dark Thirty': it made more in three days than 'The Hurt Locker' did in its entire run. If there's anything that's going to alleviate getting snubbed for at the Oscars in the Best Director category, it's that.

Was there ever any doubt that 'The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey' was going to dominate this weekend? Heck, it's probably going to dominate next weekend, too. If audiences embrace it like they did 'Lord of the Rings,' it may even dominate the week after that. The big question now is whether or not Peter Jackson's return to Middle Earth will make a bunch of money, but exactly how many bunches. Read

There's no use beating around the bush here -- this was a pretty dull weekend at the box office. There was only one new release, but it was a dump that bombed rather spectacularly and the rest of the line-up is essentially the same as last week, with only a few titles shuffling around. It's the the quiet before the storm...the storm being 'The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey,' which opens in a few d

Anyone who follows the box office will look upon this weekend's results and feel strong pangs of deja vu. Isn't this the same thing as las week?! Pretty much, yeah. The vast majority of the top ten stayed in the same position as last weekend thanks to an incredibly weak crop of new releases, making these some of the strangest box office numbers seen in 2012.

Many Americans found themselves with four days off last week, ostensibly so they could go see their family and eat turkey and celebrate Thanksgiving from the comfort of their homes. Instead, they went to the movies. In fact, this was the biggest Thanksgiving box office of all time. Congratulations, America!