Twentieth Century Fox’s Taken 3 led the box office with ease last weekend with a $39.20 million debut. The third installment of the Liam Neeson led franchise outpaced pre-release expectations; marking the third time that the Taken franchise has exceeded expectations. Taken 3 hadn’t been expected to open anywhere near as strong as 2012’s Taken 2, but instead opened a reasonable 21 percent below the $49.51 million debut of Taken 2. Without adjusting for ticket price inflation, Taken 3 delivered the third largest opening weekend ever for the month of January, behind only last year’s Ride Along and 2008’s Cloverfield. The film’s debut was especially impressive given that so many holdovers came back down to earth last weekend; due in part to the end of the holiday season and due in part to the strong performance of Taken 3. It is possible that Taken 3 could take a significant hit next weekend from the nationwide expansion of Warner Bros. Pictures’ highly anticipated American Sniper.

Liam Neeson as Brya Mills in Taken 3. (Photo: Sam Urdank/Europacorp-M6 Films)

Paramount Pictures’ Selma placed in a distant second with $11.31 million. While Taken 3 outpaced expectations last weekend, Selma debuted below expectations, which were ultimately inflated due in part to the film’s exceptional critical reviews and a larger than originally anticipated location count last weekend. While the Ava DuVernay directed awards season hopeful didn’t light the box office on fire last weekend, the film could still hold up extremely well going forward thanks in part to strong word of mouth and continued awards season buzz. It is also very possible that many initial moviegoers are waiting until the Martin Luher King holiday weekend this coming weekend to see the film. With that said, that Selma debuted 54 percent below the $24.64 million start of 2013’s Lee Daniels’ The Butler is certainly underwhelming. Selma has grossed $13.59 million to date. It should be noted that the reported production budget for Selma was a modest $20 million.

Holdovers occupied positions three through six last weekend with the four films fairly bunched together with one another. Disney Entertainment’s Into the Woods claimed third with $9.55 million. The Rob Marshall directed musical featuring Meryl Streep was down a significant 49 percent. Last weekend’s hold was lackluster given that the film expanded into an additional 295 locations. Into the Woods surpassed the $100 million mark last weekend and has grossed $105.08 million in 18 days.

Warner Bros.’ The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies followed closely behind in fourth place with $9.38 million. The third installment of Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit trilogy was down a sharp 57 percent from the previous weekend. The Battle of the Five Armies has grossed $236.46 million through 26 days of release and is now running just 2 percent ahead of the $231.93 million 26-day gross of 2012’s The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug.

Unbroken rounded out the weekend’s top five with $8.17 million. The Angelina Jolie directed war drama from Universal Pictures fell 55 percent from the previous weekend. Like Into the Woods, Unbroken also surpassed the $100 million domestic milestone last weekend. Unbroken continues to exceed expectations with $101.40 million in 18 days.

The Imitation Game placed in sixth with $7.21 million. The awards season hopeful from The Weinstein Co. held up much better than other films in the marketplace last weekend, as it was down just 7 percent. However, the film did expand into an additional 812 locations last weekend, so its location average did see significant slowing over the frame. The Imitation Game surpassed the $40 million mark last weekend and has grossed a healthy $40.43 million to date.

Which Celebrity Relationship Are You In?

Our society is so consumed with celebrity gossip and watching celebrities’ every move that it’s no surprise that we attempt to mimic their lives. Personally, I’ve probably watched The Notebook at least 100 times (and I cried 50 of those times). Because of this, I’ve actually used lines from the movie in my own real life relationships. It surprisingly works until you watch that certain movie with your significant other, and they begin to recognize you are a chick flick parrot. But, reality is that sometimes only movies have words for how you feel in a moment.

Which celebrity couple are you? (Photo: ShutterStock)

What happens when you stop quoting movies and start resembling celebrities’ actual lives? It isn’t that impossible. We watch celebs in movies, listen to their music and read about their lives in magazines, so the idea of developing similar relationship characteristics isn’t abnormal.

So which is your celebrity doppelganger?

Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie (Photo: Role Reboot)

Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie

You and your partner are Mr. and Mrs. Smith. You are the power couple that may have had a sketchy, scandalous beginning, but your friends forget how you met because now you are the envy of every couple.

Chris Brown and Rihanna

If you aren’t this couple, you at least know someone who falls under this category. Maybe the couple you know isn’t physically abusive towards each other, but they definitely are verbally toxic. If you are this couple, GET OUT NOW. We all know how this love story ends.

Beyonce and Jay-Z (Photo: WireImage)

Beyonce and Jay-Z

This couple shares similar passions and always manages to have fun together. They are best friends, and despite any rumors, they overcome any challenges that cross their path. If you are this couple, you might just have found your soulmate.

Reality Check

Our society will always be obsessed with a new generation of celebrities, so we might as well take advantage of that. By that, I mean we can actually learn from their mistakes. Taylor Swift teaches us that it’s okay to own up to your past relationship mistakes as well as call out exes for their bluffs. Miley Cyrus and Liam Hemsworth teach us that its never too late to break off an engagement if the single in you is begging to be let out and go wild. And Kimye (Kim Kardasian and Kanye West) taught us that haters will always be jealous of your fabulous life.

Just be sure you can distinguish realistic relationship expectations and Hollywood expectations. Don’t expect your ex to build you a house to get your attention like in The Notebook. And don’t expect your hot dance instructor to sweep you off your feet like in Dirty Dancing. There may be similarities, but Hollywood is not a mirror image of our reality.

Know that it is okay to admire celebrity romances, as long as you know you are in control of your own future. So go on thinking you are Queen B in your relationship, but don’t let it get to your head or else you’ll end up becoming a literal single lady with no ring on it.

Warner Bros. Entertainment’s The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies took in $21.73 million last weekend to lead the weekend box office for a third consecutive week. The third and final installment of Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit trilogy was down a significant 47 percent from the previous weekend. All previous Lord of the Rings and Hobbit films have experienced declines in the 40 percent to 49 percent range the weekend after New Year’s and that trend held up for The Battle of the Five Armies. The film surpassed the $200 million domestic mark last weekend and has grossed $220.60 million in 19 days. That places The Battle of the Five Armies 9.5 percent ahead of the $201.54 million 19-day take of last year’s The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug and 7 percent behind the $238.00 million 19-day gross of 2012’s The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey.

Martin Freeman starts as Bilbo Baggins in The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies. (Photo: Mark Pokorny/Warner Bros.)

Disney Entertainment’s Into the Woods remained in second place last weekend with $18.73 million. The modestly budgeted Rob Marshall directed musical featuring Meryl Streep was down 40 percent from the previous weekend. Into the Woods has grossed a strong $90.87 million in 11 days. Into the Woods continued to run neck and neck with Universal Pictures’ Unbroken last weekend and total grosses for the two films are separated by just $3.22 million thus far.

Unbroken placed in third with $18.17 million. The Angelina Jolie directed war drama was down a respectable 41 percent from the previous weekend. While Unbroken has shown some relative front-loading thus far, in the bigger picture the film has grossed a significantly stronger than expected $87.65 million in 11 days thanks in part to its very strong Christmas weekend start.

The Woman in Black 2: Angel of Death debuted in fourth place with a surprisingly strong $15.03 million start. The PG-13 rated horror sequel from Relativity Media exceeded expectations, which had been muted in part from soft pre-release online activity heading into the weekend. The film’s debut was especially good news for Relativity given that the film was an inexpensive acquisition for the distributor. Early January is historically a good time to release horror films and that certainty was the case for The Woman in Black 2. The film opened 28 percent below the $20.87 million start of 2012’s The Woman in Black, which was quite respectable given that The Woman in Black 2 doesn’t feature Daniel Radcliffe.

Twentieth Century Fox’s Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb claimed fifth place with $14.52 million. The third installment of the Ben Stiller led franchise continued to display impressive holding power as it was down just 28 percent from the previous weekend. Secret of the Tomb has grossed $89.85 million in 17 days.

Annie placed in sixth with $11.25 million. Sony Pictures’ musical remake starring Quvenzhané Wallis, Jamie Foxx and Cameron Diaz also held up nicely last weekend as it fell 32 percent from the previous weekend. Annie has grossed a very solid $72.46 million in 17 days.

The Imitation Game continued to impress in moderate release with a seventh place take of $7.77 million from 754 locations. That gave the awards season hopeful from The Weinstein Co. a per-location average of $10,308 for the frame, which easily represented the weekend’s strongest location average for films in the top 10. The Imitation Game has grossed $30.47 million to date and appears to be in great shape for a lengthy box office run, especially when considering it was down only 2 percent from the previous weekend without the aid of a major expansion last weekend.

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1 finished in eighth with $7.56 million. The third installment of Lionsgate Entertainment’s blockbuster franchise was down a very healthy 25 percent from the previous weekend. Mockingjay – Part 1 is currently the second highest grossing release of 2014 domestically with a 45-day take of $323.73 million. That leaves the film just $9.32 million away from the current $333.06 million total gross of Guardians of the Galaxy.

The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies took in $40.92 million last weekend (Dec. 26-28) to hold onto first place. The third and final installment of Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit trilogy was down 25 percent from its opening weekend. The film’s second weekend hold was better than that of 2003’s The Return of the King, which fell 30 percent, and a bit weaker than that of 2002’s The Two Towers, which fell 21 percent. With those comparisons in mind, last weekend’s hold was a strong sign for the film going forward. The Battle of the Five Armies grossed $168.02 million in 12 days. That places the film 19.5 percent ahead of the $140.64 million 12-day take of last year’s The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug and essentially on par with the $168.18 million 12-day gross of 2012’s The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey.

The Interview, with James Franco (left) and Seth Rogan, took in about $20 million last weekend through limited theatrical release and online rentals. (Photo: Ed Araquel/CTMG)

It was a very close race for second place last weekend between Disney Entertainment’s Into the Woods and Universal Pictures’ Unbroken. Unbroken had been estimated on Sunday to take second, but Into the Woods ultimately pulled ahead on Sunday to claim second for the weekend. The two films were separated by just $430,478 for the weekend and by an even slimmer $85,818 over their respective first four days of release.

Into the Woods opened with $31.05 million over the weekend. The Rob Marshall directed musical featuring Meryl Streep opened on the high end of expectations with a four-day debut of $46.14 million. The film’s start was especially impressive given its relatively modest 2,440 locations.

Unbroken opened in third with $30.62 million. The Angelina Jolie directed war drama has largely exceeded expectations with a four-day start of $46.06 million. Mixed critical reviews haven’t hampered the film out of the gates, which was aided greatly by the pre-existing fanbase of the Laura Hillenbrand written book.

Twentieth Century Fox’s Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb claimed fourth place with $20.20 million. The third installment of the Ben Stiller led franchise was up an impressive 18 percent from its softer than expected debut. Secret of the Tomb has grossed $54.73 million in 10 days.

Annie rounded out the weekend’s top five with $16.50 million. Sony Pictures’ musical remake starring Quvenzhané Wallis, Jamie Foxx and Cameron Diaz increased 4 percent over the previous weekend. Annie has grossed $45.74 million in 10 days.

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1 placed in sixth with $10.06 million. In the process, the third installment of Lionsgate Entertainment’s blockbuster franchise surpassed the $300 million domestic milestone last weekend, making it the second release of 2014 to do so joining Guardians of the Galaxy. Mockingjay – Part 1 was up 28 percent over the previous weekend and has grossed $306.72 million in 38 days.

Paramount Pictures’ The Gambler debuted in seventh with $9.13 million. The Mark Wahlberg led drama was off to a solid four-day start of $14.13 million, especially when considering its modest price tag and that its scheduled wide release was fairly last minute. However, early long-term signs for the film haven’t been as promising

The Imitation Game had a very successful expansion last weekend with an eighth place take of $7.93 million from just 747 locations. The awards season hopeful from The Weinstein Co. grossed $11.01 million over the four-day frame and has grossed a very promising $14.63 million to date.

Also opening last weekend was Sony Pictures’ much buzzed about The Interview. After initially having its wide release canceled, Sony gave the comedy starring Seth Rogen and James Franco a last-minute limited theatrical release in 331 smaller independent locations while also giving the film a digital release. The results of the film’s theatrical release were mixed, as it grossed $1.80 million over the weekend and $2.84 million in four days. However, Sony said it earned $15 million through online video-on-demand rentals on YouTube Movies, Google Play, Microsoft Xbox and iTunes. Combined with its limited theatrical take, The Interview earned just less than $20 million, which Sony had estimated it would make opening weekend.

Paramount Pictures’ Transformers: Age of Extinction with a cast led by Mark Wahlberg debuted with $100.0 million at the box office last weekend. The fourth installment of the popular sci-fi action franchise performed in line with pre-release expectations and delivered the largest opening weekend performance of 2014 to date, just topping the $95.02 million start of Captain America: The Winter Soldier. Without adjusting for ticket price inflation, Transformers: Age of Extinction delivered the fourth largest June opening weekend of all-time behind only last year’s Man of Steel, 2010’s Toy Story 3 and 2009’s Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. The opening weekend performance of Transformers: Age of Extinction was in the same neighborhood as the $97.85 million opening weekend of 2011’s Transformers: Dark of the Moon, though the opening weekend of Dark of the Moon was obviously deflated from that film opening on a Wednesday.

Mark Wahlberg stars in Transformers: Age of Extinction. (Photo: Andrew Cooper/Paramount Pictures)

Sony Pictures’ 22 Jump Street placed in a distant second with $15.84 million. The successful action comedy sequel starring Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum fell 42 percent from the previous weekend, which represented a solid hold, especially given the new competition the film faced from Transformers: Age of Extinction. 22 Jump Street has grossed an impressive $140.28 million in 17 days, which means it has already surpassed the $138.45 million final domestic gross of 2012’s 21 Jump Street. 22 Jump Street is currently running 51 percent ahead of the $92.88 million 17-day take of 21 Jump Street.

How to Train Your Dragon 2 placed in third with $13.24 million. The 3D computer animated sequel from 20th Century Fox and DreamWorks Animation was down 46 percent from the previous weekend. How to Train Your Dragon 2 has yet to stabilize for a family film and continues to perform below expectations with a 17-day gross of $121.95 million. How to Train Your Dragon 2 is now running a disappointing 9 percent behind the $133.40 million 17-day gross of 2010’s How to Train Your Dragon.