'LEGO' Leads Not-So-Awesome February
The LEGO Movie was the only clear winner during a so-so February at the box office. Overall domestic grosses came in at around $700 million, which was a 13 percent improvement over last year. Still, it's way off from 2012's $818.2 million record, and is also noticeably lower than 2010 and 2009.

Through the end of February, year-to-date box office is trending up 10 percent from 2013. If that pattern can continue, 2014 will be the first year in which the domestic box office breaks the $11 billion mark.

The LEGO Movie dominated the month of February, earning more than the next four titles combined. The surprise animated hit opened to $69 million, which is the second-highest February opening ever. In the weeks since, it hasn't dropped by more than 37 percent; through the end of February, LEGO had already earned $192.7 million at the domestic box office.

If it holds up well against Mr. Peabody & Sherman, LEGO will wind up with at least $270 million total. Warner Bros. seems thrilled with these results; they're already planning a sequel, which is currently scheduled for Memorial Day 2017.

In a distant second place, The Monuments Men earned $62.1 million in February. Early in its run, it passed The Ides of March to become the highest-grossing movie directed by George Clooney. While it's not a runaway hit, it's likely that The Monuments Men did benefit from its last-minute move out of a crowded December.

The Robocop remake took third place with a very disappointing $47.9 million. Throughout its run so far, it's been consistently tracking behind last year's A Good Day to Die Hard, which closed with just $67.3 million. RoboCop does at least seem poised to outperform Sony's last Paul Verhoeven remake, Total Recall ($58.9 million), though that's not saying much.

To be fair, international is picking up the slack quite a bit for RoboCop. The movie has already earned $136 million overseas, and could wind up with over $200 million total.

Romantic comedy About Last Night started strong with $12.9 million on Valentine's Day. It collapsed quickly, though, and had only earned $41.4 million through 15 days. It should ultimately pass $50 million, though that's still a far cry from similar movie Think Like a Man ($91.5 million).

Ride Along—which also stars Kevin Hart—wasn't far behind About Last Night. The January holdover tallied $40.3 million in February, and has so far earned a fantastic $127 million.

Frozen continued its record-setting run by adding $32.9 million in February. Early in the month, it passed Despicable Me 2 to become the highest-grossing animated movie from 2013. So far, Frozen has earned nearly $389 million, and could eventually inch past the $400 million mark.

Aside from the aforementioned RoboCop, a handful of other February releases were also disappointments. Endless Love failed to do much business outside of Valentine's Day, and ended the month with just $21.2 million. 3 Days to Kill took in $17.3 million in its first eight days, though its harsh second weekend drop suggests it won't earn too much more (maybe just over $30 million total). Pompeii was even worse ($14.6 million), though it is going to save some face overseas.

February's biggest bombs were Winter's Tale and Vampire Academy. Winter's Tale earned $12.1 million, and will likely close with less than $13 million. Meanwhile, Vampire Academy has essentially vanished from theaters with an abysmal $7.7 million.

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Related Charts

February Calendar Grosses

2014 Grosses (2014-only releases)

Year-to-Date Comparison