21 Feb – Despite tremendous marketing blitz, moviegoers apparently were numb towards the sci-fi franchise wannabe "I Am Number Four" where it ended up a disappointing second spot behind "Unknown", with "Gnomeo and Juliet" comfortably third, reports BoxOfficeMojo for the weekend just gone (17 -20 Feb). Promoted as the follow-up to lead star Liam Neeson's "Taken", the thriller "Unknown" dredged up an estimated US$21.8 million over the weekend and though it roped in less numbers than the US$24.7 million start by "Taken", it apparently more than tripled the last thriller featuring Liam Neeson, "The Next Three Days".
"Unknown" opens in Singapore on 24 February 2011 and in Malaysia on 10 March 2011. With an estimated US$19.5 million, young star Alex "flashlight hands" Pettyfer saw his franchise hopes flicker out since the opening weekend for "I Am Number Four" was significantly worse than "Jumper" as well as "Percy Jackson & The Lightning Thief", and neither these movies spawned sequels. The sci-fi romance "I Am Number Four" opens in Malaysia and Singapore this 24 February 2011. Meanwhile, the tracker site also reports that Oscar favourite "The King's Speech" held its ground again, boasting the smallest decline among nationwide releases and successfully topped fellow nominees "The Social Network" on Thursday and "Black Swan" on Sunday. Meanwhile GSC Mid Valley cinema manager Lee Kong Yew revealed that the top three highest-grossing movies at the prime location for this slow post-Chinese New Year period were "The Mechanic", "Sanctum" and the Christina Aguilera's musical debut, "Burlesque".
Other new releases and sneak shows over the weekend in Malaysia include "Black Swan", "Saat Khoon Maaf", "The King's Speech", "No Strings Attached", "Sanctum", "Burlesque", "The Mechanic ", "The King's Speech" and "The Rite". New releases and sneak shows in Singapore over the weekend include "127 Hours", "No Strings Attached", "Rabbit Hole", "Daniel And Ana", "What Women Want", "The Mechanic" and "127 Hours".