IDENTITY THIEF Claims Weekend Box Office with $36.5M

IDENTITY THIEF Claims Weekend Box Office with $36.5M
Despite the snowstorm on the east coast, nothing could keep IDENTITY THIEF from claiming the top spot at this weekend's box office.

Universal's latest comedy, directed by Seth Gordon and starring Melissa McCarthy and Jason Bateman, exceeded studio expectations, taking in nearly $36.5 million since its release on Friday.

In the film, unlimited funds have allowed Diana to live it up on the outskirts of Miami, where the queen of retail buys whatever strikes her fancy. There's only one glitch: The ID she's using to finance these sprees reads "Sandy Bigelow Patterson"... and it belongs to an accounts rep who lives halfway across the U.S.

With only one week to hunt down the con artist before his world implodes, the real Sandy Bigelow Patterson heads south to confront the woman with an all-access pass to his life. And as he attempts to bribe, coax and wrangle her the 2,000 miles to Denver, one easy target will discover just how tough it is to get your name back.

WARM BODIES, Lionsgate's undead romantic comedy with Nicholas Hoult, came in second, earning an additional $11.5 million, bumping its two-week total to $36.6 million.

Stephen Soderberg's most recent film, SIDE EFFECTS, starring Rooney Mara and Channing Tatum, met Open Road's expectations - grossing just over $10 million.

SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK and HANSEL AND GRETEL: WITCH HUNTERS took the fourth and fifth spots respectively, earning $6.9 and $5.7 million.

Rentrak announced the box office rankings for this weekend (Feb. 8-10). Check out the top 12 below:

1	Identity Thief	Universal	$36,592,650	$36,592,650
2	Warm Bodies	Lionsgate	$11,500,000	$36,625,082
3	Side Effects	Open Road	$10,015,000	$10,015,000
4	Silver Linings Playbook	The Weinstein Company	$6,908,000	$90,002,239
5	Hansel And Gretel: Witch Hunters	Paramount	$5,750,000	$43,832,853
6	Mama	Universal	$4,323,355	$64,045,500
7	Zero Dark Thirty	Sony	$4,000,000	$83,560,590
8	Argo	Warner Bros.	$2,500,000	$123,733,613
9	Django Unchained	The Weinstein Company	$2,288,000	$154,501,132
10	Bullet To The Head	Warner Bros.	$1,980,000	$8,171,022
11	Top Gun	Paramount	$1,900,000	$178,681,728
12	Lincoln	Disney	$1,860,000	$173,607,000