It was a fairly sluggish President’s Day weekend at the US box office, with no film breaking out in a big way. Many had expected I Am Number Four to end up the winner, hegiving a strong relaunch to Dreamworks as in independent entity, however with a softer than expected $19.5 million, it didn’t manage to make it to number one, with that honour going to Unknown.
The Liam Neeson amnesiac movie, which was probably helped by the fact it was marketed almost like it was a sequel of Taken, took $21.7 million. It’s not a bad start for the type of movie it is, and only slightly less than Taken made in its first weekend, which ended up at $145 million.
The only other new entry was Big Momma’s: Like Father, Like Son at number 5, which most people might have though looked like an awful and unnecessary sequel, but nevertheless took $17 million dollars in its first three days, which is roughtly half its budget. It’s significantly less that the other two Big Momma’s pics took though, suggesting the franchise is indeed on the way out.
Further down the list, The King’s List has reason to cheer, with it weekend take only dropping 9% and grossing another $6.5 million, which was enough to take it over the $100 million mark. That’s impressive for a period drama, and it wins at the Oscars, who knows where its take will end?
Take a look below for the US box office top 10 for the weekend of February 18th-20th.
| Rank | Title | Weekend Gross (millions) | Total Gross to date (millions) |
| 1 | Unknown | $21.7 | $21.7 |
| 2 | I Am Number Four | $19.5 | $19.5 |
| 3 | Gnomeo and Juliet | $19.4 | $50.4 |
| 4 | Just Go With It | $18.2 | $60.7 |
| 5 | Big Mommas: Like Father, Like Son | $17.0 | $17.0 |
| 6 | Justin Bieber: Never Say Never | $13.6 | $48.4 |
| 7 | The King’s Speech | $6.5 | $103.2 |
| 8 | The Roommate | $4.1 | $42.6 |
| 9 | The Eagle | $3.5 | $15.0 |
| 10 | No Strings Attached | $3.1 | $66.0 |