Is the "Lego" franchise running out of steam? The fourth film in the franchise, "The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part," debuted in first place, but with considerably less than projected.

Its $34.4 million debut is almost 50% behind 2014’s "The Lego Movie." The first "Lego" film had a surprisingly strong $69 million launch before ending its theatrical run with $469 million worldwide. But it did outperform the 2017 spinoff, "The Lego Ninajgo Movie," which debuted with $20 million in its first weekend.

According to Variety, "The Lego Movie 2" was the most expensive film in the franchise so far, with a budget of $100 million, compared to previous budgets in the $60-80 million range.

In second place was  "What Men Want," the gender-swapped remake of the 2000 comedy "What Women Want."  The comedy, which stars Taraji P. Henson as a woman who can suddenly hear what men think, earned $19 million from 2,912 locations. (The 2000 film opened with $33 million, but received a plum December release instead of being dumped in the February film wasteland.)

"Cold Pursuit," the latest revenge thriller starring Liam Neeson, secured third place with  $10.9 million from 2,630 screens. That's one of the lowest openings of the actor's career. Although expectations for the film weren't that high, controversy over his remarks -- he said he wanted to kill a random black man after a friend's rape 40 years ago  --- can't have helped. Lionsgate canceled the red carpet at the film's premiere due to the fallout.

By comparison, his film "Run All Night" opened with $11 million in March 2015, "The Commuter" opened with $13.7 million in January 2018, and "Non-Stop" earned $28.8 in its first weekend in February 2014.

Another new release, the horror film "The Prodigy," scared up  $5.8 million debut from 2,530 locations for sixth place. (According to Variety. Boxofficemojo estimates place it closer to $6 million.) It stars "Orange Is the New Black"'s Taylor Schilling as a woman who begins to fear her son is evil. It received a 47% critics rating on Rotten Tomatoes and audiences gave it an only slightly better 57% rating.

Here are the top 10 estimates for February 8-10, 2019

1. "The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part," $34,400,000
2. "What Men Want," $19,000,000
3. "Cold Pursuit," $10,800,000
4. "The Upside," $7,220,000
5. "Glass," $6,422,000
6. "The Prodigy," $6,004,403
7. "Green Book," 3,567,000
8. " Aquaman," $3,300,000
9. "Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse," $3,040,000
10. "Miss Bala," $2,725,000

[Via Variety]