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Universal’s Liam Neeson-starrer “Non-Stop” looks to be unstoppable this Oscar weekend reports Variety.com.

With an expected $30 million weekend bow, the action-thriller is on track to crumble Warner Bros.-Village Roadshow’s “The Lego Movie.” Neeson is up against himself at the box office as he voiced Bad Cop/Good Cop/Pa Cop in “Lego.”

Aside from breaking the toon’s three-week winning streak, the pic is also stopping Fox’s “Son of God” in its tracks. “Non-Stop” took $10 million Friday, while “Son of God” secured $9.4 million, putting it on track for $25 million. “Lego,” on the other hand, earned $4.4 million (down about 39%). This will likely raise its total domestic box office to $192.7 million.

The win, which exceeds already high expectations, further solidifies Neeson’s status as a bona fide box office draw. “Non-Stop” (budgeted at $50 million) flew above the box office gross of “Taken,” the film that reinvigorated his action career. The first movie made $24 million in 2009 over Super Bowl weekend and went on to gross $145 million domestically. Its sequel opened to more than double that amount, $49 million, in 2012, but finished with a bit less Stateside at $140 million.

However, “Non-Stop” — produced and financed by StudioCanal and Joel Silver — is not flying in friendly skies; “Son of God” is hot on its trail. Christopher Spencer’s look at the life of Jesus could be looking at near-eternal life in the coming weeks as church groups and other religious institutions are buying tickets in bulk to organize group outings and theater take-overs. In fact, Colorado’s Compassion International bought tickets for churches in 40 cities across the nation. This trend could rise next month leading up to Easter Sunday on April 20.

The faith-based pic opened to a joyful $1.2 million Thursday night, overtaking “Non-Stop”s $720,000. Producers Mark Burnett and Roma Downey have aggressively promoted the project, which is based on their five-part miniseries “The Bible.” The show was ratings gold for the History Channel last March.

In their second weekend, Relativity’s “3 Days to Kill” and Sony’s “Pompeii” are expected to fall behind another Sony pic, “Monuments Men.” “3 Days” will likely gross $4.8 million by Sunday, which would bring its total to $20.6 million, while “Pompeii” could reel in $3.9. “Monuments” is inching past both, en route to nabbing fourth place with $5 million.

While “3 Days” seems to be locked in at fifth, Sony-MGM’s “RoboCop” will likely beat out “Pompeii” for the sixth slot. “About Last Night,” “Ride Along” and “Frozen” should round out the top 10.

News Source: www.foxnews.com

Universal’s Non-Stop, starring Liam Neeson, surged ahead to take the lead in the weekend box office, snagging the spot from The Lego Movie, according to Forbes.

Along with Neeson, the film stars Julianna Moore and 12 Years a Slave’s Oscar-nominated Lupita Nyong’o.  The action thriller is set to bring in around $30 million over the course of this weekend.  The Los Angeles Times reported that the action-packed film is expected to bring in $20 million over the course of the weekend. 

20th Century Fox’s biblical film Son of God took the second spot and brought in $9.4 million.  According to Forbes, half of that money ($4.5 million) was earned from advanced ticket sales made before the weekend.  The film’s advertising was targeted more specifically at the religious movie-going market.  Son of God was developed from the History Channel’s hit television miniseries, The Bible.  According to The Los Angeles Times, churches and religious organizations have helped build hype and earnings for the film by renting out theaters and buying bulk amounts of tickets.  The movie could possibly pass up Non-Stop for the top spot this weekend, and it is expected to break even (it cost $22 million to make).

“It feels like around $12 million, maybe $15 million,” said Chris Aronson, head of distribution at Fox in regards to Son of God’s possible box office success.  ”But honestly, because of the faith-based element, we just don’t know, so it wouldn’t shock me if it did $25 million.”

The Lego Movie, with voice work done by Chris Pratt, Will Arnett and Elizabeth Banks, fell to third place with $4.4 million.  Despite its fall, the comedy still fell less than 50% as compared to its box office performance last week.  The family movie will likely pass the $200 million mark this Sunday, according to Forbes.

Kevin Costner’s recent film, 3 Days to Kill, grabbed the fourth spot and raked in only $1.45 million.  The thriller was easily overpowered by Neeson’s Non-Stop and fell over 60% from last week’s performance.  So far, the film has grossed $17.2 million.

The Monuments Men, starring Matt Damon, George Clooney, John Goodman and Bill Murray, took fifth place with $1.44 million.  The film just edged out the disaster film Pompeii that brought in $1.2 million and has earned only $14.6 million total.  According to Forbes, this was a 63% drop from last Friday for the film.

News Source: www.statecolumn.com