A Haunted House Scares Off The Gangster Squad – Biff Bam Pop’s Weekend Box Office Wrap-Up Report

As expected, the controversial Zero Dark Thirty claimed the number one spot at the box office this weekend; the surprises came in the second and third spots. Here’s what went down:

Whether it’s an accurate portrayal or not of what went down in killing Osama Bin Laden’s, Kathryn Bigelow’s Zero Dark Thirty clearly had mass appeal this weekend, bringing in a stellar $24.5 million to claim the top spot. No doubt the controversy behind the torture depictions, combined with the various Oscar nominations it pulled in, helped with awareness. It will be interesting to see how the film holds up over the next few weeks – how close will it get to $100 million? Something to keep our eyes on, for sure.

Find out how the rest of the weekend turned out after the jump
In a close battle for second place, the horror parody A Haunted House managed to outpace Gangster Squad, scoring $18 million versus $17 million. This is definitely a disappointment, seeing as how Gangster Squad has a higher profile cast and a lot of hype surrounding it. However, parody flicks usually drop hard after their first weekends, so look for Gangster Squad to make up a little ground over the coming weeks.

As for the rest of the top five, Django Unchained fell to fourth with $14.5 million, while Les Miserables closed out the top five with $9.5 million.

So, to recap, here were our predictions:

1) Zero Dark Thirty – $23 million
2) Gangster Squad – $18 million
3) Django Unchained – $17.5 million 
4) Les Miserables – $17 million
5) A Haunted House – $15 million

And here’s how the weekend turned out:

1) Zero Dark Thirty – $24.5 million
2) A Haunted House – $18 million
3) Gangster Squad – $17 million 
4) Django Unchained – $14.5 million
5) Les Miserables– $9.5 million

Next weekend brings the releases of Arnold Schwarzenegger’s The Last Stand, horror flick Mama and the expansion of Oscar-nominated Silver Linings Playbook. Be sure to check back on Friday for our predictions.