BAD GRANDPA SHOOTS DOWN GRAVITY

After three weeks at the No. 1 spot at the box office, Gravity began its descent this weekend, brought down by Johnny Knoxville’s Bad Grandpa. Knoxville’s Jackass-with-a-storyline production kicked off with an estimated $32 million, while Gravity slipped to the runner-up position with $20.3 million, bringing its gross after four weekends to just under $200 million (although final figures due to be released on Monday could lift it above that marker). Meanwhile, 20th Century Fox’s The Counselor, the only other film opening over the weekend, flopped as predicted, with only about $8 million in ticket sales, despite the fact that it was directed by three-time Oscar nominee Ridley Scott, starred such box-office heavy-hitters as Michael Fassbender, Cameron Diaz, Javier Bardem, Brad Pitt and Panèlope Cruz, and was written by best-selling author Cormac McCarthy. Fassbender, however, received better news about another film in which he stars, the critically praised 12 Years a Slave, which expanded from 19 theaters to 123 and brought in $2.2 million, putting it into the weekend’s top 10 (at No. 8). It topped all other films in wide release on a per-theater average — $17,479 versus $9,592 for Bad Grandpa. Coming in third was Sony’s Captain Phillips, with $11.8 million.

The top ten films for the weekend, according to studio estimates compiled by Box Office Mojo:
1. Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa, $32 million; 2. Gravity, $20.3 million; 3. Captain Phillips, $11.8 million; 4. The Counselor, $8 million; 5. Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2, $6.1 million; 6. Carrie, $5.9 million; 7. Escape Plan, $4.3 million; 8. 12 Years a Slave, $2.15 million; 9. Enough Said, $1.55 million; 10. Prisoners, $1.06 million.