Weekend Box Office | featured news

Wow. It certainly didn’t look that way after Thursday’s disappointing midnight screenings, but here we are. “The Avengers” has broken the all-time opening weekend box office record with a phenomenal $200.3M. That’s at least $30M more than the most optimistic projections from box office analysts.

"Hunger Games" becomes the first film since "Avatar" to spend four straight weekends at No. 1, while fellow Lionsgate pic "Cabin in the Woods" opens third with $14.9 million; "Battleship" Beat Overseas by "Titanic 3D" in surprise upset.

Audiences headed back to school for the TV update "21 Jump Street," which opened as the No. 1 weekend movie with $35 million. Sony's action comedy starring Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum as cops going undercover as high school students took down the animated hit "Dr. Seuss' the Lorax," which had been the top flick the previous two weekends.

On Oscar weekend, the active-duty Navy SEALs action flick "Act of Valor" stormed the box office, earning $24.7 million according to studio estimates Sunday....

"Contraband" managed to steal the top slot away from competitors at the weekend box office. The Universal action drama film starring Mark Wahlberg as a reformed smuggler debuted above expectations at No. 1 with $24 million, while Disney's 3-D rerelease of "Beauty and the Beast" waltzed into the No. 2 position with $18.5 million, according to studio estimates Sunday. Both films helped boost Hollywood's business after a sluggish holiday season.

Tom Cruise appears to have left behind his weird period, at least at the North American box office. “Mission: Impossible — Ghost Protocol,” which features the 49-year-old Mr. Cruise scaling buildings and sprinting through sandstorms, repeated as the No. 1 attraction at movie theaters over the holiday weekend, taking in about $31.3 million for a three-week total of $134 million. “Ghost Protocol,” directed by Brad Bird (“The Incredibles”), has sold over $200 million in scattered release overseas.

Tom Cruise’s latest mission has won a holiday weekend that’s shaping up with some silent nights at movie theaters as business continues to lag. Studio estimates Sunday place “Mission: Impossible — Ghost Protocol” a solid No. 1 with $26.5 million domestically over its first weekend in full release.

Domestic box office revenues dip for third weekend in a row; one bright spot is "Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol," which rakes in $13.6 million in limited IMAX sneaks, and opens to a sizzling $68.2 million overseas.

Garry Marshall's star-studded ensemble pic New Year's Eve stumbled in its box office debut, grossing a tepid $13.7 million as overall box office revenues fell to their lowest levels in more than three years.

Summit Entertainment's The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn--Part 1 had no trouble retaining the No. 1 crown, grossing $16.9 million for a domestic cume of $247.3 million. The fourth installment is still pacing slightly behind The Twilight Saga: New Moon, which opened over Thanksgiving in 2009. At the same point in its run New Moon had earned $255.4 million domestically.