'Unknown' Tops Sluggish Holiday Weekend Box Office With $25.6 Million

Holdover "Gnomeo & Juliet" nabs $24.8 million and trumps third place newcomer "I Am Number Four" while "Big Mommas" debuts at No. 5 with $19 million.

With many young people continuing to stay away from the multiplex, President's Day weekend failed to reverse the downturn at the domestic box office.

action pic Unknown came in No. 1 in a surprise victory over DreamWorks and Touchstone's I Am Number Four.

Unknown grossed an estimated $25.6 million from 3,043 for the four-day holiday weekend, well ahead of projections. A resounding 89% of the audience was over the age of 25 -- and 54% over the age of 50.

Number Four opened to an estimated $22.7 million from 3,154, several million behind what tracking showed going into the President's Day frame. The teen sci-fi adventure skewed older than expected, with 54% of the audience over the age of 25.

Number Four was always a tough sell, since it featured no big stars. Also, in going up against Unknown, it was competing with a known quantity because of Neeson's last action pic Taken.

Beating Number Four for No. 2 was 3D toon Gnomeo & Juliet -- also from Touchstone. The family film grossed an estimated $24.8 million for a cume of $55.7 million through Sunday.

Gnomeo, now on track to become the biggest February animated film, is benefiting from being the only family offering in the marketplace.

Sony's Adam Sandler-Jennifer Aniston romantic comedy also did well in its second weekend, coming in No. 4. The movie grossed an estimated $21.7 million from 3,548 theaters for a cume of $64.2 million through Monday.

New Regency and 20th Century Fox's Big Mommas: Like Father, Like Son placed No. 5 in its debut, grossing $19 million from 2,821 theaters.

Like holdovers Gnomeo and Just Go With It, Justin Bieber: Never Say Never held well in its second outing. The movie, from Paramount's Insurge Pictures, fell less than expected for a cume of $51.4 million through Monday.