Weekend Box Office

With at least six movies opening in wide release on various days over the past week, it would’ve been easy for any film to get lost in the shuffle. But since Tom Cruise flicks rarely fade into the background, it’s hardly a surprise that ‘Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol’ brought in $26.5 million to handily beat all its competitors at the box office this weekend.

Moviegoers lined up to see Robert Downey, Jr. in ‘Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows,’ giving the sleuthing sequel a $40 million showing and the top spot at the box office this weekend.

It took a movie with a zillion stars to do it, but ‘The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn’ has finally been knocked off its perch at the top of the charts. Despite blistering reviews, ‘New Year’s Eve’ brought in $13.7 million in its debut, making it the most popular movie at the box office this weekend.

With no new movies opening in wide-release this weekend, there was little to challenge the powerhouse known as ‘The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1,’ which earned $16.9 million and easily kept its berth as the top-earning film for the third weekend in a row.

In news that will likely surprise exactly no one, ‘The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1′ glittered and gored its way to a spectacular $139.5 million premiere this weekend, giving the latest film in the popular franchise the fifth-largest domestic opening in history.

In its second week of release, ‘Puss In Boots,’ the Antonio Banderas-voiced swashbuckling feline from the ‘Shrek’ franchise, pulled in $33 million in milk money to again take the top spot at the box office this weekend.

‘Paranormal Activity 3,’ the third installment in the horror film franchise, received a warm welcome at the box office this weekend, earning $54 million and a spot at the top of the charts in its first week of release.

A new release, the futuristic Hugh Jackman boxing tale ‘Real Steel,’ took in $27.3 million to become the top earner at the box office this weekend.

It was neck-and-neck for a while, but in the end, the family-friendly ‘Dolphin Tale’ bested the Brad Pitt baseball-saga, ‘Moneyball,’ to take the top-earning spot at the box office this weekend.

Seventeen years after its initial box-office run, ‘The Lion King’ is again reigning supreme. The new 3D incarnation of the film, currently in a limited-engagement run, took in another $22 million to land atop the charts for the second weekend in a row.

In a limited engagement in 3D, the 1994 Disney classic, ‘The Lion King,’ earned $29 million to take the top spot at the box office this weekend. ‘Contagion,’ last week’s most popular movie, moved to second place, while Ryan Gosling’s ‘Drive’ took third in its debut week. Former box office champ ‘The Help’ came in fourth, and ‘Straw Dogs’ rounded out the top five.

It took a global epidemic to do it, but ‘The Help’ has finally been knocked out of the number one spot at the box office after three weeks at the top of the list. The Steven Soderbergh-directed ‘Contagion,’ about a deadly and fast-spreading disease and the panic it causes, earned $23.1 million at theaters in its first week of release, relegating ‘The Help’ to a runner-up status. The mixed-martial