Newbie distributor Open Road Films has claimed its first number one opening with the wolf vs. man thriller The Grey.  From 3,185 locations, The Grey took in an estimated $20 million, or well above the mid-teens that was projected.  Second place was claimed by Underworld Awakening, pushing the adaptation of Janet Evanovich’s bestselling novel, One For the Money, into third.

Open Road’s The Grey debuted in first place on Friday with an estimated $6.5 million from 3,185 locations.  That is only a bit less than the debut of Unknown, Liam Neeson’s last turn as a tough-guy, but substantially more than Open Road saw from Killer Elite, its first release last September. The thriller is projected to earn $18.5 million for the weekend, giving 2012 its fourth winning frame in a row.  Friday’s number two was Lionsgate’s One For the Money, which made an estimated $4.1 million from 2,737 venues. It is unclear, however, how much of an impact the film’s Groupon ticket deal had on its debut, but, so far, Money is not looking like the confirmed disaster that many expected/hoped for.  Discounted tickets were also offered for Summit’s new Man On A Ledge.  From 2,998 locations the PG-13 thriller took in a reported $2.5 million – enough for fifth place behind holdovers Underworld Awakening and Red Tails.  Details and analysis tomorrow.

It’s hard to catch the heat of a “out of nowhere” hit film, but Taken was massively successful, and so Liam Neeson has become an action movie star. But if taken worked because of its simplicity, few films he’s done since have captured that magic. Unknown stars Neeson as Dr. Martin Harris, who’s in Germany with his wife Elizabeth (January Jones) when he forgets something back at the airport, and ends up in a car crash with his driver Gina (Diane Kruger). When he wakes up, there’s another Martin Harris (Adian Quinn), and even his wife doesn’t seem to know him. From there the plot thickens. My review of Unknown on Blu-ray follows after the jump. 

Next month, Warner Bros., Sony, Universal, and 20th Century Fox are set to launch “Home Premiere”, a premium VOD service that will offer movies for home viewing only two months after their theatrical debut.  Variety reports that movies on the service will cost up to $30 for a two-to-three day viewing period and the service will launch exclusively on DirecTV.  Certain cable companies will introduce Home Premiere to certain cities for an undisclosed period of time around the end of April.

Warner Bros. plans to launch with Unknown while Sony’s first premium VOD title will be Just Go With It.  However, plans could change closer to launch.  Studios also don’t plan to release films to the Home Premiere service if they’re still doing well in theaters.  Hit the jump for my thoughts on this new service.

Oh, the irony.  On the very day that Hollywood will fete its highest achievements of the past year, we are here to consider releases that reside in its creative basement.  After a Friday win, newcomer Hall Pass could not hold off holdover Gnomeo and Juliet. After two weeks at number three, the all-ages animated film won the weekend with an estimated $14.2 million. Sad for Hall Pass but it could have been worse: Drive Angry 3D now holds the record for the lowest opening ever for a 3D wide-release.

Traditionally the last week in February is no barn burner in terms of ticket sales.  Sure, last year saw Shutter Island open to over $14 million on its first Friday but in 2011 it looks like that figure will be hard for any release to top after three days let alone one.  The new Farrelly Brother’s comedy Hall Pass led on Friday with a weak $4.6 million from its 2,950 locations.  Last weekend’s number one film Unknown was not far behind with $3.9 million.  Without a strong Friday showing, and with its R rating taken into account, we should see Hall Pass slide down to number three by Sunday.  That’s good news for Gnomeo and Juliet which has a real shot at topping the box office for the first time in its three week run. Finally, what can I say about Summit’s Drive Angry?  Nic Cage’s latest action flick brought in just $1.6 million on Friday from its 2,290 locations (97% of which screened the film in 3D).  That is $2 million less than Cage saw for Season of the Witch just six weeks ago. Details and analysis tomorrow.

After taking first place on Friday by just half a million dollars, the PG-13 thriller Unknown managed to strengthen its hold on the top spot despite the Saturday surge of the week-old family film Gnomeo and Juliet.  Once again, the estimates within the top five are pretty close, which means that these numbers are likely to change by the time the four-day President’s Day weekend wraps up on Monday night.

Hollywood kicked off the four-day Presidents Day weekend on Friday and, no surprise, it looks like this weekend will not come close to 2010’s record-setting totals.  The estimates have been all over the map but it looks like Unknown took Friday with $6.7 million from its 3,045 locations. At number two with $6.2 million is I Am Number Four, the latest ‘young-adult’ book series to go for tent-pole status at the box office.  So far the projections for Four are disappointing, especially considering the film’s slight theatre count edge and its much more substantial advantage in hype.  As expected, this weekend’s third new release is bringing up the rear.  Big Mommas: Like Father, Like Son was fourth on Friday with $4.8 million from 2,821 locations.  That puts the threequel just behind last weekend’s winner Just Go With It and just ahead of Gnomeo and Juliet, which is expected to surge ahead as the weekend progresses.  Full details tomorrow.

Taken, for all of its faults (and there were many), at least stumbled upon the fact that Liam Neeson can be a badass action star.  Unknown, clearly influenced by Taken and other Euro-trash thrillers, says “Fantastic!  Let’s put his ass-kicking persona all the way at the end of the movie and then just have him stumble around for the majority of the runtime!”  Rather than offer up a complex mystery built around an unreliable protagonist, Unknown clears up any major misunderstanding by the end of the first act, and then we’re bored stupid by Neeson wandering around as he’s hunted by non-descript bad guys as the clumsy narrative lurches towards an inevitable twist and his transformation to Taken Guy.  The film wastes its premise, its mystery, its lead actor, and only at the end does it have the courtesy to become laughably terrible.

Opening this weekend is director Jaume Collet-Serra’s (Orphan) Unknown and it stars Liam Neeson, January Jones, Diane Kruger, Bruno Ganz, Aidan Quinn and Frank Langella.  The film is about a man who awakens from a coma (Neeson) to discover that someone has taken on his identity and that no one believes him. With the help of a young woman (Kruger), he sets out to prove who he is.  You can watch some clips here.

While I only got to cover the press conference for Unknown, our partners at Omelete landed TV interviews with the cast, so hit the jump to watch their interview with Diane Kruger.  She talks about her character, working for Jaume Collet-Serra, Berlin (where the movie takes place), the Superman rumors, and her next movie Farwell, My Queen (she’s going to play Marie Antoinette).

Over the last few years, I’ve been able to interview producer Joel Silver a number of times.  As the producer of almost 100 movies including The Matrix, Predator, Lethal Weapon, Die Hard, Sherlock Holmes, Speed Racer (one of my favorite films of 2008), Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, V for Vendetta, and so many other awesome films, it’s always great to talk with him.

The reason I got to sit down with him this time was for his new movie Unknown.  Directed by Jaume Collet-Serra (Orphan), the film stars Liam Neeson, January Jones, Diane Kruger, Bruno Ganz, Aidan Quinn and Frank Langella and it’s about a man who awakens from a coma (Neeson) only to discover that someone has taken on his identity and that no one believes him. With the help of a young woman (Kruger), he sets out to prove who he is.  You can watch some clips here.

During our extended interview, we talked about why he always shoots in Berlin, how was making Unknown compared to other projects, and the casting of Liam Neeson.  In addition, we talked about how he makes movies and the state of the industry.  Some of the subjects he covered was how much time he spends on set, how many scripts he reads, are home video sales really as bad as everyone says, his thoughts on VOD, is foreign box office an even bigger part of getting a film made nowadays, his thoughts on 3D, and how hard is it to get a big tent pole movie made nowadays.  Finally, for fans of Logan’s Run, I got an update on that.  Hit the jump to either read or listen to the interview:

Opening this weekend is director Jaume Collet-Serra’s (Orphan) Unknown and it stars Liam Neeson, January Jones, Diane Kruger, Bruno Ganz, Aidan Quinn and Frank Langella.  The film is about a man who awakens from a coma (Neeson) to discover that someone has taken on his identity and that no one believes him. With the help of a young woman (Kruger), he sets out to prove who he is.  You can watch some clips here.

While I only got to cover the press conference for Unknown, our partners at Omelete landed TV interviews with the cast, so hit the jump to watch their interview with January Jones.  She talks about what attracted her to the role, how TV is better than ever, and why people should be excited for X-Men: First Class.

Opening this weekend is director Jaume Collet-Serra’s (Orphan) Unknown and it stars Liam Neeson, January Jones, Diane Kruger, Bruno Ganz, Aidan Quinn and Frank Langella.  The film is about a man who awakens from a coma (Neeson) only to discover that someone has taken on his identity and that no one believes him. With the help of a young woman (Kruger), he sets out to prove who he is.  You can watch some clips here.

While I only got to cover the press conference for Unknown, our partners at Omelete landed TV interviews, so hit the jump to watch their interview with Liam Neeson.  He talks about visiting Brazil, how does Unknown compare to Taken, his feelings on being an action star, The Grey with Joe Carnahan, and more.

With director Jaume Collet-Serra’s Unknown opening February 18, we’ve been given some movie related swag to giveaway.  Unknown stars Liam Neeson, Diane Kruger, January Jones, Aidan Quinn, Bruno Ganz and Frank Langella and you can click here to watch some clips.  Here’s the synopsis:

Dr. Martin Harris (Neeson) awakens after a car accident in Berlin to discover that his wife (Jones) suddenly doesn’t recognize him and another man (Quinn) has assumed his identity.  Ignored by disbelieving authorities and hunted by assassins, he finds himself alone, tired, and on the run.  On his own in a strange country, Martin seeks aid from an unlikely and reluctant source (Kruger) as he plunges headlong into a deadly mystery that will force him to question his sanity, his identity, and just how far he’s willing to go to uncover the truth.

Hit the jump to see what we’re giving away and how to enter:

With director Jaume Collet-Serra’s (Orphan) Unknown opening Febrauary 18, Warner Bros. has sent over 5 clips from the film which stars Liam Neeson, January Jones, Diane Kruger, Bruno Ganz, Aidan Quinn and Frank Langella.  Here’s the synopsis:

Dr. Martin Harris (Neeson) awakens after a car accident in Berlin to discover that his wife (Jones) suddenly doesn’t recognize him and another man (Quinn) has assumed his identity.  Ignored by disbelieving authorities and hunted by mysterious assassins, he finds himself alone, tired, and on the run.  Aided by an unlikely ally (Kruger), Martin plunges headlong into a deadly mystery that will force him to question his sanity, his identity, and just how far he’s willing to go to uncover the truth.

Hit the jump to check out the clips: