Box Office: Melissa McCarthy Gets Last Laugh As Identity Thief Steals the Weekend

Film critic Rex Reed may not have enjoyed Melissa McCarthy's performance in Identity Thief, but that didn't stop moviegoers from coming out in droves to see the new comedy over the weekend.

Identity Thief, which stars Jason Bateman as the victim of McCarthy's (yep) identity thief, opened in first place by a landslide, earning $36.6 million over the weekend despite a severe winter storm that caused several movie theaters in the Northeast to close temporarily, Box Office Mojo reports.

Coming in second was the zombie love story Warm Bodies, with $11.5 million, a nearly 45 percent drop from its opening last weekend.

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Steven Soderbergh's new film, Side Effects, had a modest showing in its first weekend, earning $10 million.

Oscar nominee Silver Linings Playbook continued its strong showing, dropping 10 percent from the previous weekend but still coming in fourth with $6.9 million. Taking fifth and sixth place were Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters ($5.75 million) and Mama($4.3 million).

Other Best Picture contenders Zero Dark Thirty, Argo and Django Unchained came in seventh, eighth and ninth with $4 million, $2.5 million and $2.3 million, respectively.

Finishing out the Top 10 was Bullet to the Head with just under $2 million.