How Far Has Justin Bieber Fallen?

Never Say Never held up pretty well, actually, at Presidents' Day weekend box office; Liam Neeson's Unknown led the way

Esperanza Spalding proved Justin Bieber vulnerable. Rolling Stone made the squeaky-clean idol controversial. The New York Times practically wrote his career obit.

After a rough week (MVP hoops honor, notwithstanding), the Presidents' Day box office seemed poised to finish off Bieber's run. 

RELATED: Never Say Never to a peek at Hollywood's next could-be hits

But it didn't.

Bieber's tween-powered 3-D concert movie held up well for a tween-powered 3-D concert movie. Versus its opening weekend, Friday-Sunday ticket sales for Never Say Never were down an average 55 percent. By comparison, the Miley Cyrus-Hannah Montana concert movie plunged nearly 67 percent in its second weekend; the Jonas Brothers' entry fell a scary 77 percent.

Overall, it was a less bad weekend for Hollywood than it's been in a long while, with six films grossing more than $15 million each from Friday-Monday. 

Liam Neeson's $30 million Unknown led the way with a Taken-sized take. I Am Number Four, a sci-fi action flick (unless you watch Glee, in which case, per the commercials, it's a Dianna Agron vehicle), took second with a gross that made up for its bad reviews, but didn't come near matching its reputed $50-60 million budget.

Martin Lawrence's Big Mommas: Like Father, Like Son wasn't as big as the comedy franchise's first two flicks, but it did OK considering its own bad reviews.

Among the other holdovers, the animated Gnomeo & Juliet showed more staying power than Adam Sandler's and Jennifer Aniston's Just Go With It.

Among the Oscar contenders, The King's Speech broke $100 million. Worldwide, the $15 million talkie is well past $200 million. The King's Speech became the last awards-show film in the Top 10, as True Grit dropped out after eight blockbuster weekends and $164 million. Further down in the standings, Black Swan flew past $100 million, while The Fighter got a bit closer to $90 million.   

Here's an updated look at the top-grossing films, per Friday-Sunday numbers as compiled by Exhibitor Relations. Estimated grosses for the overall four-day holiday weekend are also included:

1. Unknown, $21.8 million ($25.6 million Friday-Monday)
2. I Am Number Four, $19.4 million ($22.6 million Friday-Monday)
3. Gnomeo & Juliet, $19.2 million ($24.8 million Friday-Monday)
4. Just Go With It, $18.2 million ($21.7 million Friday-Monday)
5. Big Mommas: Like Father, Like Son, $16.3 million ($19 million Friday-Monday)
6. Justin Bieber: Never Say Never, $13.3 million ($16.5 million Friday-Monday)
7. The King's Speech, $6.5 million ($7.9 million Friday-Monday)
8. The Roommate, $4.1 million ($4.5 million Friday-Monday)
9. The Eagle, $3.6 million ($4.3 million Friday-Monday)
10. No Strings Attached, $3.1 million ($3.7 million Friday-Monday)

(Originally published Feb. 20, 2011, at 11:04 a.m. PT)