'Hall Pass' pulls past 'Gnomeo & Juliet' in final box office count

The Farrelly brothers won the box office race after all.

On Sunday, it looked like the filmmakers' latest comedy "Hall Pass" would come in second behind the animated 3-D film "Gnomeo & Juliet," according to estimates from their respective distributors Warner Bros. and Walt Disney Studios.

But when the final box office totals were tabulated on Monday, "Hall Pass" eked out a win, grabbing $13.5 million in ticket sales over the weekend. Disney's "Gnomeo," which was in its third week of release, ended up slightly behind with $13.4 million.

Disney had estimated on Sunday that its animated film would finish the weekend with $14.2 million, based on the past performance of family movies on Oscar Sunday.

While "Hall Pass" will now likely tout its No. 1 placement in advertisements, it was still a soft start for a picture that cost $38 million to make and fell below estimates heading into the weekend that it would collect close to $20 million.

Nonetheless, the film marks the first time the Farrelly brothers have had a movie debut at the top of the box office charts since their 2000 comedy "Me, Myself and Irene"; the opening is similar to the directors' last disappointing release, "The Heartbreak Kid."

-- Amy Kaufman

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Box office: 'Gnomeo & Juliet' tops 'Hall Pass' as 'Drive Angry' stalls out

Photo: Jason Sudekis, left, and Owen Wilson star in "Hall Pass." Credit: Warner Bros.

Comments

[stan]

Funny... Everyone I've talked to said that BOTH of these films are awful.