McCarthy's 'Identity Thief' tops box office again

The Associated Press, Sunday, February 24, 2013, 9:49am (PST)

NEW YORK (AP) — Hollywood's latest films performed tepidly at the box office on Oscar weekend, with Melissa McCarthy's "Identity Thief" returning to the top spot in its third week of release.

According to studio estimates Sunday, the Universal comedy earned $14.1 million over the weekend, enough to regain the box-office title after losing it last week to Fox's "A Good Day to Die Hard."

With a cumulative total of $93.7 million, "Identity Thief" is the biggest hit so far in 2013.

For the fifth week in a row, the box office was down as compared to last year's business. That was unlikely to dampen Sunday night's Academy Awards, though. The nine best picture nominees have largely fared well at the box office. This weekend, eight of them are in the top 21 films.