The US box office can be an incredibly fickle beast that tough to predict. Many were expecting that with four major films opening against one another, they might harm each others chances. Instead all of them did well, marking only the second time in history four films have opened north of $20 million on the same weekend.
It was The Vow that really overperformed, doubling some predictions to wind up with a stellar $41 million. Many have suggested a lack of straightforward romances in the last few months and the fact it’s almost Valentine’s Day conspired to ensure The Vow got an opening that outpaced the likes of Dear John and The Notebook.
The film many had expected to lead the box office chart, Safe House, settled for second spot with $39.3 million, which was still well ahead of what many thought it might end up with. Indeed it’s more than Ryan Reynolds’ last movie, The Change Up, made in its entire North American run, and marks Denzel Washington’s second biggest opener ever behind American gangster.
Third on the chart with $27.7 million was Journey 2, which outpaced its predecessor’s $21 million opening, and nearly doubled what many had thought it would make in its first three days. The final new entry in the $20 million plus club was Star War: The Phantom Menace 3D, which took $23 million. It’s a solid start, especially considering many see it as the weakest Star Wars movie, but it’s well behind what the re-release of The Lion King made last autumn. We’ll have to see whether George Lucas thinks it’s enough to justify converting the other Star Wars flicks.
Take a look below for the US box office top 10 for the weekend of February 10th-12th.
| Title | Weekend Gross (millions) | Total Gross to date (millions) |
| The Vow | $41.7 | $41.7 |
| Safe House | $39.3 | $39.3 |
| Journey 2: The Mysterious Island | $27.5 | $27.5 |
| Star Wars Episode I – The Phantom Menace 3D | $23.0 | $23.0 |
| Chronicle | $12.3 | $40.1 |
| The Woman In Black | $10.3 | $35.4 |
| The Grey | $5.0 | $42.8 |
| Big Miracle | $3.9 | $13.2 |
| The Descendants | $3.5 | $70.7 |
| Underworld Awakening | $2.5 | $58.9 |
After weeks of waiting, the stars gathered at London’s Royal Opera House for the annual BAFTA film awards, with all eyes on leading contenders The Artist and Tinker Tailor to see which would walk off with the most gongs.
It’s not too long now until the 26th BFI London Lesbian and Gay Film Festival opens on March 23rd (running until April 1st), and now the first element of what promises to be a very interesting programme has been announced, with the news the Opening Night movie will be Cloudburst.
Hailee Steinfeld made a big impact and scored an Oscar nomination for True Grit, but as so often happens when an actor comes out of nowhere, it takes a while until we see them in a follow-up role. She’s currently shooting Romeo & Juliet and she’s also booked in Ender’s Game, and now 
Last year Hollywood feel in love with Snow White, so that this year we’re getting the gothic action tale Snow White & The Huntsman and the more comic Mirror Mirror, and there’s Disney, who’ve been developing a more off-the-wall Snow White tale. Now the latter project is moving forward, with 
After the success of Orphan and Unknown, Jaume Collet-Serra has been much in demand, but he’s been having a few troubles sorting out a follow-up, having signed onto and then left a few movies. Most recently Warner has put his take on Akira on hold due to budget issues.
John Cusack and Evan Peters have signed on to co-star in the indie comedy Adult World, which recently started shooting in Syracuse, New York, with Scott Coffey directing from a script by Andrew Cochran.
Daphne Du Maurier’s Rebecca is a truly wonderful book that became Alfred Hitchcock’s only Best Picture Oscar winning movie (although he lost out as Best Director, and indeed never won that prize himself).
Actor/comedian Patton Oswalt, who’s just coming off his critically-acclaimed performance in Young Adult, is in talks to join Ben Stiller and Kriten Wiig in 20th Century Fox’s comedy remake of The Secret Life of Walter Mitty.