Hey, come on, guys, Tower Heist wasn't THAT bad...

The big news at the box office this week was that Brett Ratner’s torn-from-the-headlines tale of greed and sassy fat Jamaicans, Tower Heist, was a huge disappointment, landing in second place and bringing in $10 million less than most analysts projected. That would be great news, I guess, except the excitement is tempered somewhat by the fact that people expected Brett Ratner’s schmucky, bad vaudeville romp to make $35 million in the first place. Meanwhile 50/50, the rare non-genre-garbage movie that was actually about something, has made $32 million so far in its entire six-week run.

It seems like it used to be that studios would put out a movie they thought was good and maybe it would be a disappointment, and then decide, okay, the crowd has spoken. These days, it just seems like the crap gets shoved down everyone’s throat before anyone has a chance to make a decision, because that’s what someone assumed the public wants. I know, I know, no one ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American public and all of that, but that doesn’t mean you’re supposed to try. Come on, tell me that wasn’t the idea behind Jack and Jill.

Anyway, Puss in Boots was number one for the second weekend in a row with $33 million and blah blah blah who cares. Full top 10 after the jump.

TWLWTitle (click to view)StudioWeekend Gross% ChangeTheater Count / ChangeAverageTotal GrossBudget*Week #
11Puss in BootsP/DW$33,035,000-3.1%3,963+11$8,336$75,508,000$1302
2NTower HeistUni.$25,100,000-3,367-$7,455$25,100,000$751
3NA Very Harold & Kumar 3D ChristmasWB (NL)$13,065,000-2,875-$4,544$13,065,000$191
42Paranormal Activity 3Par.$8,525,000-53.0%3,286-43$2,594$95,308,000$53
53In TimeFox$7,700,000-36.1%3,127+5$2,462$24,209,000$402
64Footloose (2011)Par.$4,550,000-17.3%2,811-413$1,619$44,800,000$244
76Real SteelBV$3,407,000-28.8%2,438-476$1,397$78,750,000-5
85The Rum DiaryFD$2,988,000-41.8%2,292+19$1,304$10,423,000$452
98The Ides of MarchSony$2,000,000-28.7%1,391-181$1,438$36,800,000-5
109MoneyballSony$1,900,000-20.4%1,278-353$1,487$70,327,000$507

[via BoxOfficeMojo]