“Die Hard” Takes Number One Spot In Box Office

The fifth installment of “Die Hard” had to battle it out against “Identity Theft” for the top spot at the box office.

Bruce Willis returns to the role that helped rise him to stardom as John McLane in “A Good Day to Die Hard” and landed the number one spot in this week’s box office with $29.3 million over the four day weekend.  The fifth “Die Hard”film, described as the worst reviewed of the franchise, has collected $37.5 million since its opening on Wednesday of last week. “Live Free or Die Hard” had a stronger opening when it was released in June 2007 and earned $134 million domestically.

“Identity Theft” was a close second with earnings of $27.9 million. The comedy stars Melissa McCarthy in her first starring role alongside Jason Bateman. The film has earned $75.2 million since its opening and has aided in the boost of “Bridesmaids” star, McCarthy. It has also claimed the biggest opening for actor Jason Bateman in a lead role. So far, “Identity Theft” is the highest earning film of 2013.

The Nicholas Sparks based film “Safe Haven” came in third with $25.2 million over the four day weekend and has a total of $34 million since it’s Valentine’s Day release. “Safe Haven” is the eighth Nicholas Sparks’ big screen adaptation, adding to the list of “The Notebook” and “The Last Song”. The film had a budget of $28 milllion, which makes it’s opening numbers impressive.

The kid oriented film “Escape from Planet Earth” and zombie rom-com “Warm Bodies” wrapped up the top five. However, the supernatural-romance film “Beautiful Creatures”, which was hoped to be the next Twilight, was a flop and earned only $10.1 million.

Shanika Simmons