Muted debuts from Relativity and EuropaCorp’s thriller 3 Days To Kill and Constantin/Impact Pictures’ adventure Pompeii allowed Warner Bros smash The Lego Movie to hold on to pole position for the third consecutive weekend.

The Lego Movie added an estimated $31.5m from 3,890 sites after expanding by 115 venues and raised the tally to $183.2m.

Kevin Costner and Amber Heard star in 3 Days To Kill and the film opened at number two on a lacklustre $12.3m from 2,872 theatres.

Meanwhile Pompeii – released in the US through TriStar – scored a $10m number three debut that was below expectations. Paul W S Anderson directed the romantic adventure starring Kit Harington, Emily Browning and Carrie-Anne Moss. The film did well internationally, however, earning $22.8m through Lionsgate International markets.

MGM-Columbia Pictures’ RoboCop reboot slid one place to number four on $9.4m for $43.6m after two sessions through Sony. The Monuments Men ranks fifth on $58.1m through Sony after three.

Overall box office for the top 12 haul amounted to $97.9m and dropped 39% against last weekend’s $187.5m. However it gained approximately 10% on the $88.3m top 12 a year ago.

In limited release, Buena Vista launched Hayao Miyazaki’s international animation smash The Wind Rises in 21 theatres for a solid $306,000, resulting in a $14,571 per-site average.

Roadside Attractions released the romantic thriller In Secret starring Elisabeth Olsen, Oscar Isaac and Jessica Lange on $272,000 from 266 and IFC opened the documentary Elaine Stritch: Shoot Me on $30,000 from two venues.

This week Fox launches Son Of God, the feature version of TV phenomenon The Bible, while Universal releases the Liam Neeson thriller Non-Stop.

Estimated Top 10 North America Feb 21-23 2014
Film (Dist) / Est wkd gross / Est total to date

1 (1) The Lego Movie (Warner Bros) WBPI $31.5m $183.2m

2 (-) 3 Days To Kill (Relativity-EuropaCorp) Relativity International $12.3m –

3 (-) Pompeii (TriStar-Constantin-Impact) Lionsgate International $10m –

4 (3) RoboCop (MGM-Sony) SPRI-MGM $9.4m $43.6m

5 (4) The Monuments Men (Sony) Fox International $8.1m $58.1m

6 (2) About Last Night (Sony-Screen Gems) SPRI $7.4m $38.2m

7 (6) Ride Along (Universal) UPI $4.7m $123.2m

8 (8) Frozen (Buena Vista) WDSMPI $4.4m $384.1m

9 (5) Endless Love (Universal) UPI $4.3m $20.1m

10 (7) Winter’s Tale (Warner Bros) WBPI $2.1m $11.2m