娱乐英语新闻:"Identity Thief" braves blizzard to become No. 1 at N. America box office

LOS ANGELES, Feb. 10 (Xinhua) -- Jason Bateman and Melissa McCarthy have proven that they are the cinematic draw to moviegoers in the United States and Canada this weekend, as their new film "Identity Thief" opened as No. 1 release in spite of a massive blizzard which hit the major part of East Coast of the United States, cutting a fairly part of revenues off.

The Universal R-rated comedy, which stars Bateman as a guy whose identity is stolen by a woman (McCarthy), debuted with a robust 36.6 million dollar gate, marking as the 13th largest February debut of all time before the ticket price is adjusted for inflation.

Although many theaters in New England were closed on Saturday due to Winter Storm Nemo, which may have taken a 10 percent bite out of the total, this seemed to have not had a negative impact on the flick, as it opened in 3,141 venues and siphoned a healthy revenue from other films in the marketplace.

The movie is a slightly female-skewing piece, as 58 percent was women. It also has an appeal to older filmgoers, as 57 percent was 30 years and older. Those who have seen it assigned a "B" CinemaScore to it.

"Warm Bodies," Lionsgate's PG-13 zombie comedy which opened last weekend as No. 1, slipped to No. 2 with a 11.5 million dollars gross. Steven Soderbergh-directed "Side Effects" opened as No. 3 with a 10 million dollar weekend. The Open Road's thriller received a "B" rating on CinemaScore.

Rounding out the top 10 most popular films in North America this weekend were "Silver Linings Playbook" (6.9 million dollars), "Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters" (5.8 million), "Mama" (4.3 million), "Zero Dark Thirty" (4 million), "Argo" (2.5 million), " Django Unchained" (2.3 million), and "Bullet To The Head" (2 million).