A girl. A boy with bite. The woods.
Did these Twilight-esque elements add up to a Twilight-esque smash for Red Riding Hood?
No.
The restyled fairy tale, starring Amanda Seyfried, and directed by Catherine Hardwicke, debuted in third place at the weekend box office with a toothless $14.1 million, per estimates.
The performance wasn't disastrous—the movie was Hollywood-cheap, reputedly made for about $40 million—but it was a steep comedown for Hardwicke, whose last film soared in its opening weekend, grossing nearly $70 million.
Did we mention Hardwicke's last movie was Twilight?
Elsewhere, the alien-invasion flick Battle: Los Angeles ($36 million) secured the No. 1 spot with a nice return off its own budget-conscious budget (reportedly $70 million—not bad, or pricey, for a special-effects extravaganza). Worldwide, the film stands at more than $52 million.
The animated family film Mars Needs Moms ($6.8 million), the weekend's other major new release, barely got off the launch pad, opening in fifth place.
Rango ($23.1 million; $68.7 million overall), last weekend's champ, held well, but slipped to second.
After a no-fad four-weekend stay, Justin Bieber's Never Say Never ($1.3 million) dropped out of the Top 10. The film's overall take of $68.9 million (and counting) puts it in second place among the all-time concert-movie box-office champs, ahead of Miley Cyrus' Best of Both Worlds and not far behind Michael Jackson's This Is It .
Here's a complete rundown of the top-grossing films, per Friday-Sunday numbers as compiled by Exhibitor Relations.
- Battle: Los Angeles, $36 million
- Rango, $23.1 million
- Red Riding Hood, $14.1 million
- The Adjustment Bureau, $11.5 million
- Mars Needs Moms, $6.8 million
- Hall Pass, $5.1 million
- Beastly, $5.09 million
- Just Go With It, $4 million
- The King's Speech, $3.6 million
- Gnomeo & Juliet, $3.5 million