The box office results for 2013’s Valentine’s Day/Presidents’ Day extended weekend sees a threesome fighting for dominant position. A Good Day to Die Hard and Safe Haven led the four new releases, yet are still having a pillow-fight with last week’s winning attraction Identity Thief. Here are the studio estimates for the 3-day weekend:

1. A Good Day to Die Hard ($25 million)

10. Zero Dark Thirty ($3.1 million)

Analysis

The only flick that seemingly didn’t get enough love on its opening day (Valentine’s Day) was Beautiful Creatures. In trying to act as a rebound for The Twilight Saga obsessed, who saw their genre-like franchise come to an end last year, the Warner Bros. release may not get a “second date” thanks to a lackluster opening and a $50-$60 million production budget. Despite decent reviews, this is already on Flop Alert.

The irony that surrounds the rest of the new arrivals is that they received harsh reviews from the lovely critics yet managed to perform well based on their respective branding:

A Good Day to Die Hard, the 5th installment in the cherished action franchise Die Hard that always comes armed with star Bruce Willis, could win the weekend…but that may be about it. Being the first film in the franchise to unveil outside of the summer blockbuster season, the opening weekend total will be the lowest in the franchise for a sequel when taking into account inflation. The production budget was a reported $92 million, and with the overseas’ total expected to be strong, this may hustle just enough to see the black ink.

Safe Haven, the latest adaptation of a mushy Nicholas Sparks’ novel, is off to another fantastic start. His reign as a financially sure thing over the Hallmark holiday shall not be interrupted thanks to a production budget that came in at $28 million.

Quietly joining the party was The Weinstein Company’s 3D animation Escape from Planet Earth. With a thrifty production budget of $40 million, and a basically non-existent marketing campaign, the opening figure isn’t too shabby all things considered. And with no other fam-friendly products invading theaters until March 1st, this could end up being a modest hit for all involved.

Identity Thief dropped just 32% from last weekend’s opening figure. Now up to $70.6 million on the domestic front, Universal Pictures does in fact have a legit early-year success.

This Friday is a light one in terms of new additions. Dark Skies will play the thriller card while Snitch gives moviegoers another action product to chew on. Reviews will be right here my fellow Shockers!