For only the second time in box office history four films debuted with more than $20 million led by The Vow, which earned an estimated $41.7 million.  The Denzel Washington-starring espionage thriller Safe House was close behind with an estimated $39.3 million, while Journey 2: The Mysterious Island brought in a better-than-expected $27.55 million, and the 3-D re-release of Star Wars: Episode I--The Phantom Menace also did well as it earned $23 million.  Led by this quarter the box office soared more than 20% over the same frame last year, when Just Go With It topped the box office with $30.5 million.

 

The Vow, which stars Rachel McAdams and Channing Tatum, is the first straight-up big screen romance to debut since One Day bowed in August, and once again this film, which cost just $30 million to produce, demonstrated the earning potential of romantic films that target the female audience (particularly ones that take advantage of the proximity of Valentine’s Day).  The audience for The Vow, which was 72% female and 55% under 25, gave the film just an average “B” CinemaScore.

 

 

Both The Vow and Safe House greatly outperformed expectations.  Safe House marked the second strongest debut ever for Denzel Washington—and there is no doubt that his presence was crucial to the film’s success with 72% of the audience citing it as the reason for attending the movie.  Safe House, which also stars Ryan Reynolds and Vera Famiglia, attracted a diverse audience that was evenly split between men and women.  African-Americans made up 38% of the crowd, while 31% was Caucasian, and 23% Hispanic.  Safe House appealed to an older crowd (62% were 30 or over) and the film earned a solid “A-“ from the opening weekend audience.

 

The biggest headscratcher of the weekend was the performance of the family-targeted Journey 2: The Mysterious Island, which improved on 2008’s Journey to the Center of Earth’s $21 million debut.  The big difference between the two films is the presence of “The Rock” (Dwayne Johnson) in Journey 2.  The way “The Rock” has re-energized the Fast and Furious and Journey franchises certainly augurs well for his appearance in this summer’s G.I. Joe: Retaliation (see “Bruce Willis to Play the Original G.I. Joe”).  In spite of the incredibly cheesy-looking trailers the family audience evidently preferred Journey 2 to the 3-D revival of Star Wars: Episode I.  Journey 2 drew a younger (54% under 25) crowd that was evenly divided between males and females—and they gave the film a solid “A-“ CinemaScore, which indicates that this bloated effects-laden mish-mash will be around for a few more weeks.

 

Star Wars: Episode I’s $23 million total was in line with expectations, right in between The Lion King ($30.2 million) and Beauty and the Beast ($17.8 million. Aided by a giveaway program (see “Theaters Offering Star Wars Toys”), the film attracted a crowd that was 60% male and 51% under 25.  A one percent decline from Friday to Saturday indicates that The Phantom Menace was a bit front-loaded with hardcore fans scurrying to see the film at the first available opportunity.  Given the film’s poor reputation (and the fact that George Lucas did not give the many fans what they wanted by including the elimination of Jar Jar Binks among the many post-release changes he has made to the Star Wars movies—though Jar Jar was nowhere to be found in any of the spots created for the 3-D re-release), box office analysts are left wondering whether Lucas missed a major opportunity by releasing the 3-D versions starting with the modern Star Wars trilogy rather than the classic trio that fans hold in much higher esteem.

 

While the new films took most of the spotlight, last week’s winner, the “found footage” superhero epic Chronicle slipped just 44% in its second weekend.  With $40.2 earned already, this low budget franchise (the film cost around $12 million to make) is sure to get an extension.  Also faring pretty well (for a horror film) was The Woman in Black, which dropped 51 percent.

 

Stop back here next week to see how the Marvel-based Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance, which has received some unwanted attention thanks to a lawsuit between the publisher and Ghost Rider creator Gary Friedrich (see “Ghost Rider Creator Owes Marvel $17 Grand”) opens along with the latest anime feature from Studio Ghibli, The Secret World of Arrietty, which was written (but not directed) by Hayao Miyazaki.