Wintertime Derby (February 18-21)

So here we are in a long holiday weekend, with Gnomeo and Juliet (as of Thursday) in the #2 box office position, but pushed down by some new entrants as of Friday:

1. Unknown (Dark Castle/Warner Bros) NEW [3,154 Theaters] -- Friday $6.7M, Estimated Four-Day Holiday $24M-$26M

2. I Am Number Four (DreamWorks/Touchstone/Disney) NEW [3,043 Theaters] -- Friday $6.2M, Estimated Four-Day Holiday $20M-$24M

3. Just Go With It (Sony) Week 2 [3,548 Theaters] -- Friday $5.2M (-45%), Estimated Four-Day Holiday $20M-$23M, Estimated Cume $65M

4. Big Mommas: Like Father, Like Son (New Regency/Fox) NEW [2,821 Theaters] -- Friday $4.8MM, Estimated Four-Day Holiday $18M-$21.4M

5. Gnomeo & Juliet (Disney) Week 2 [3,014 Theaters] -- Friday $4.3M (-32%), Estimated Four-Day Holiday $24M-$26M, Estimated Cume $55M

A 32% decline isn't bad, and as the Nikkster says: "[A]s the only true family pic should finish the four-day holiday up in the Top 3.".

Not bad for a film that was, a short while ago, pretty much of an orphan.

Add On: TIME Magazine informs us of the losers and winners for the weekend:

... The Liam Neeson thriller Unknown leads the charge at North American theaters with $21.8 million, according to the studio's Sunday morning estimates, closely followed by the fantasy epic I Am Number Four ($19.5 million) and two holdovers from last week: the 3-D cartoon Gnomeo & Juliet ($19.4 million) and the Adam Sandler-Jennifer Aniston romantic comedy Just Go With It ($18.2 million). ...

So Disney's new live-action offering #4 barely noses out its animated hold-over. Hoo ha!