1. The Vow- $41.7M
Channing Tatum and Screen Gems continue to make milquetoast music together. Tatum seems good for about one of these weirdly successful romance flicks a year, but The Vow turns out to be the strongest by far, perhaps because he was paired with Rachel McAdams who seems do exactly the same busines. Pulling in over $41M, The Vow beats out Screen Gems' previous top hit, Dear John, which as you probably know also starred Tatum. To be fair, The Vow is a pretty good film and a sight better than Dear John, and with Valentine's Day right around the corner(it's on Tuesday guys!!) expect it to clean house next week as well.
2. Safe House- $39.3M
Speaking of folks who have settled into a comfortable niche, Denzel Washington has found yet another mid-range action hit with Safe House, where he teams up with yet another bland white co-star(sorry but it's true), this time Ryan Reynolds, to either stop something ludicrous or save his own hide. Appearing to have more "oompf" than Unstoppable or The Taking of Pelham 123, the $39M haul ranks as Washington's second highest ever, and the largest since American Gangster. Could it be the star power of Reynolds that gave it such a boost? *snort* No. Not at all, but it'll go a long way in helping people forget Green Lantern.
3. Journey 2: The Mysterious Island- $27.6M
Dwayne Johnson is a bigger star than Brendan Fraser. That much I think is clear, but when we look at the final tally between this sequel and Fraser's Journey to the Center of the Earth, we're gonna find that Johnson took a massive piledriver. While the $27M opening is superior to that of Fraser's 2008 predecessor, that one stayed in theaters for months, ultimately finishing with over $100M domestic on it's way to $240M worldwide. Journey 2 isn't going to have legs like that, most likely, and will probably be lucky to finish anywhere near $70M. It continues to prove that Johnson is a viable leading man, though, with this making his fourth $20M+ opening weekend in true starring roles.
4. Star Wars Episode 1: The Phantom Menace 3D- $23M
George Lucas has your money. Again. He's swimming in it right now, like Scrooge McDuck on an episode of DuckTales. Lucas is probably a little disappointed by these numbers, though, especially when you factor in the added 3D costs, but by the time it's run is completed he'll have all the justification needed to shove the other five flicks down our throats.
5. Chronicle- $12.3M/$40.2M
Chronicle held on strange for such a specific genre film, and especially well for a "found footage" effort, only slipping about 44%. It's worth noting that Chronicle has already tripled it's production budget, meaning everybody is going to walk home happy, and I think all but ensures director Joshua Trank will get the Fantastic Four relaunch gig.
6. The Woman in Black- $10.3M/$35.5M
7. The Grey-$5.08M/$42.8M
8. Big Miracle- $3.86M/$13.2M
9. The Descendants- $3.5M/$70.7M
10. Underworld: Awakening- $2.5M/$58.9M
