'The Vow' wins strong weekend with $41.2M debut

[February 14, 2012]  LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Love conquered the weekend before Valentine's Day as Rachel McAdams and Channing Tatum's romantic drama "The Vow" led the box office with a $41.2 million debut.

A big weekend for Hollywood was rounded out by strong debuts for Denzel Washington's action thriller "Safe House" with $40.2 million; Dwayne Johnson's family adventure "Journey 2: The Mysterious Island" with $27.3 million; and George Lucas' 3-D version of "Star Wars: Episode I -- The Phantom Menace" with $22.5 million.

The top 20 movies at U.S. and Canadian theaters Friday through Sunday, followed by distribution studio, gross, number of theater locations, average receipts per location, total gross and number of weeks in release, as compiled Monday by Hollywood.com are:

1. "The Vow," Sony Screen Gems, $41,202,458, 2,958 locations, $13,929 average, $41,202,458, one week.

2. "Safe House," Universal, $40,172,720, 3,119 locations, $12,880 average, $40,172,720, one week.

3. "Journey 2: The Mysterious Island," Warner Bros., $27,335,363, 3,470 locations, $7,878 average, $27,335,363, one week.

4. "Star Wars: Episode I -- The Phantom Menace," Fox, $22,469,932, 2,655 locations, $8,463 average, $22,469,932, one week.

5. "Chronicle," Fox, $12,092,589, 2,908 locations, $4,158 average, $39,959,856, two weeks.

6. "The Woman in Black," CBS, $10,102,658, 2,856 locations, $3,537 average, $35,258,145, two weeks.

7. "The Grey," Open Road, $5,045,620, 2,801 locations, $1,801 average, $42,787,884, three weeks.

8. "Big Miracle," Universal, $3,946,050, 2,133 locations, $1,850 average, $13,281,985, two weeks.

9. "The Descendants," Fox Searchlight, $3,441,676, 1,582 locations, $2,176 average, $70,671,289, 13 weeks.

10. "Underworld Awakening," Sony Screen Gems, $2,480,156, 1,657 locations, $1,497 average, $58,914,525, four weeks.

11. "Red Tails," Fox, $2,417,386, 1,580 locations, $1,530 average, $45,080,772, four weeks.

12. "One For the Money," Lionsgate, $2,300,953, 2,056 locations, $1,119 average, $23,679,658, three weeks.

13. "The Artist," Weinstein Co., $2,240,252, 808 locations, $2,773 average, $24,002,038, 12 weeks.

14. "Hugo," Paramount, $1,765,205, 702 locations, $2,515 average, $64,442,024, 12 weeks.

15. "Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close," Warner Bros., $1,473,011, 1,375 locations, $1,071 average, $29,406,900, eight weeks.

16. "Man on a Ledge," Summit, $1,301,222, 1,423 locations, $914 average, $17,471,432, three weeks.

17. "Contraband," Universal, $1,259,340, 1,081 locations, $1,165 average, $64,642,825, five weeks.

18. "The Iron Lady," Weinstein Co., $1,155,969, 512 locations, $2,258 average, $22,797,264, seven weeks.

19. "Beauty and the Beast," Disney, $840,111, 678 locations, $1,239 average, $46,463,306, five weeks.

20. "Mission: Impossible -- Ghost Protocol," Paramount, $706,967, 469 locations, $1,507 average, $206,514,768, nine weeks.

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Online:

http://www.hollywood.com/

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Universal and Focus are owned by NBC Universal, a unit of Comcast Corp.; Sony, Columbia, Sony Screen Gems and Sony Pictures Classics are units of Sony Corp.; Paramount is owned by Viacom Inc.; Disney, Pixar and Marvel are owned by The Walt Disney Co.; Miramax is owned by Filmyard Holdings LLC; 20th Century Fox and Fox Searchlight are owned by News Corp.; Warner Bros. and New Line are units of Time Warner Inc.; MGM is owned by a group of former creditors including Highland Capital, Anchorage Advisors and Carl Icahn; Lionsgate is owned by Lions Gate Entertainment Corp.; IFC is owned by AMC Networks Inc.; Rogue is owned by Relativity Media LLC.

[Associated Press]

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