Weekend Box Office: The Vow Charms Its Way To The Top

Success continues at the box office, this time with the pre-Valentine’s Day movie The Vow leading the way. The Rachel McAdams-Channing Tatum romance opened to a sizable $41.7 million, an amount none of us saw coming. The Vow was followed closely by the new action flick Safe House with $39.3 million. But The Vow and Safe House weren’t the only surprises this weekend – Journey 2: The Mysterious Island also brought in a fair amount of $27.6 million, beating out George Lucas‘ rerelease of Star Wars: Episode 1 – The Phantom Menace, which opened at No. 4 with $23 million. And finally, at No. 5 was Chronicle, which earned another $12.3 million, bringing its new total to an amazing $40.1 million.

Check out the numbers…

1. The Vow | NEW | Screen Gems | Weekend Gross $41,700,000 | Average Per Theater $14,097 | Total Gross $41,700,000 | Film’s Budget – $30 | Week 1
2. Safe House | NEW | Universal | Weekend Gross $39,300,000 | Average Per Theater $12,600 | Total Gross $39,300,000 | Film’s Budget – $85 | Week 1
3. Journey 2: The Mysterious Island | NEW | Warner Brothers | Weekend Gross $27,550,000 | Average Per Theater $7,939 | Total Gross $27,550,000 | Film’s Budget – $79 | Week 1
4. Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace (in 3D) | NEW | Fox | Weekend Gross $23,000,000 | Average Per Theater $8,663 | Total Gross $23,000,000 | Film’s Budget – N/A | Week 1
5. Chronicle (2012) | Last Week #1 | Fox | Weekend Gross $12,300,000 | Average Per Theater $4,230 | Total Gross $40,167,000 | Film’s Budget – $12 | Week 2
6. The Woman in Black | Last Week #2 | CBS | Weekend Gross $10,300,000 | Average Per Theater $3,606 | Total Gross $35,456,000 | Film’s Budget – N/A | Week 2
7. The Grey | Last Week #3 | Open Road Films | Weekend Gross $5,080,000 | Average Per Theater $1,814 | Total Gross $42,822,000 | Film’s Budget – $25 | Week 3
8. Big Miracle | Last Week #8 | Universal | Weekend Gross $3,900,000 | Average Per Theater $1,828 | Total Gross $13,200,000 | Film’s Budget – $40 | Week 2
9. The Descendants | Last Week #8 | Fox Searchlight | Weekend Gross $3,500,000 | Average Per Theater $2,214 | Total Gross $70,729,000 | Film’s Budget – N/A | Week 13
10. Underworld Awakening | Last Week #5 | Screen Gems | Weekend Gross $2,500,000 | Average Per Theater $1,509 | Total Gross $58,900,000 | Film’s Budget – $70 | Week 4

The box office is looking good this year. All four new releases (or rereleases) hit above the $20 million mark, putting this year earnings way ahead of 2011s. Last year, Just Go With It led the box office with only $30.5 million. Valentine’s Day or not, it seems like audiences are getting out to the theaters more often, and that’s good news for Hollywood.

What did you watch this first weekend of 2012?