Audiences were in no great hurry to catch this train.
The Denzel Washington and Chris Pine runaway train drama "Unstoppable" scored a far-from-spectacular $23 million opening in 3,207 theaters — not enough to overtake DreamWorks Animation's "Megamind," which racked up $30 million in its second weekend.
Still, Washington performed far better than another aging action hero, Harrison Ford, whose move into romantic comedy territory with "Morning Glory" proved to be a bust. The $40 million Paramount/Bad Robot production made $9.6 million in 2,518 locations, making the break-even bar a reach.
It also continues a bad stretch for Ford, who with the exception of "Kingdom of the Crystal Skull," has found the aughts to be immune to his star power. Indeed, he hasn't had a true breakout hit since "What Lies Beneath" some ten years ago.
In its sophomore weekend, "Megamind" continued the animation house's pattern of building on strong word-of-mouth, by dropping just 35 percent to retain its box office crown. The family film has now banked $89.7 million domestically.
Here's how the top 10 finished. Full report continues below chart:
Produced at a cost of $100 million by Fox and Dune Productions, "Unstoppable" will likely make back its production budget when worldwide box office (never Washington's strong suit) is taken into account.
The movie was projected to bow in the $20 million range, but even through it met its tepid pre-release tracking, "Unstoppable" still has a lot of ground left to cover. Its opening numbers are almost the mirror image of Washington's previous collaboration with director Tony Scott, "The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3," which debuted to $23.7 million in June 2009. Though set on a subway car, that film was also considered to be a dissappointment.
Take away? Washington and Scott might want to steer clear of anything train based for their next pairing.
Also sticking around, "Due Date," Warner Brothers' attempt to recapture the debauched magic of "The Hangover," is falling short of that breakout comedy hit. Hurt by middling audience scores and unenthusiastic reviews, "Due Date" dropped 52 percent in its second weekend. The Robert Downey Jr. vehicle eked out $15.5 million in 3,365 theaters for the weekend and has now rung up $59 million domestically.
In fourth place, the low-budget alien invasion flick "Skyline" made $11.7 million in 2,880 theaters. The Rogue Pictures' release was made for an estimated $10 million with a largely no-name cast.
"The film opened as expected and due to the cost-effectiveness of its production, we're happy with the weekend's results," Peter Adee, Relativity's president of worldwide marketing and distribution, told TheWrap.
Tyler Perry's "For Colored Girls" continued the director's penchant for steep drop-offs. After debuting to a bullish $20 million, the drama fell 65 percent in its second weekend; earning $6.7 million in 2,127 locations. That's par for the course for the Madea creator, who like horror films, tends to make the lion's share of his gross on the first weekend of release.
