weekend box office

For those of us who follow the box office, this weekend was a case of deja vu. Once again, ‘Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted‘ headlined the top ten and once again, ‘Prometheus‘ snatched the number two spot. Both films managed to keep their momentum despite the opening of two new releases starring two of the biggest movie stars in the world. That’s good news if you’re ‘Madagascar 3′ or ‘Prometheu

‘Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol,’ the fourth movie in the popular franchise, ruled the box office with an iron hand last week. With a $31.2 million haul over the New Year’s holiday, Tom Cruise and company again reigned supreme.

Movie studios inundated us with releases last week, which meant some were bound to get lost in the shuffle — especially the two that bowed on Christmas Day. Let’s take another look at them, shall we?

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.

The swashbuckling feline from the ‘Shrek’ franchise, ‘Puss In Boots,’ still has plenty of lives to spare after its weekend haul of $34 million, putting it 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.

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.

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

Earning a total of $123 million at the box office in the month since its release, ‘The Help’ kept its number one spot in theaters for the third week in a row, becoming the first film to do so since last summer’s ‘Inception.’

Two new films — ‘Rise of the Planet of the Apes’ and ‘The Change-Up’ — premiered in the top five in this weekend’s best box-office earners, coming in at number one and number four, respectively. Last weekend’s top films, ‘The Smurfs’ and ‘Cowboys & Aliens,’ moved to the second and third-place slots. Here’s a recap of all five of this weekend’s best box-office earners.

No Megan Fox, no problem -- 'Transformers: Dark of the Moon' still managed to rock the box office this holiday weekend. The sexy star may not have returned for the third installment in the franchise, but it didn't matter because director Michael Bay's latest offering took in $116.1 million over the four-day holiday weekend, en route to winning the box office battle.

Though it wasn't what one might call a "super" performance, J.J. Abrams' alien-adventure movie 'Super 8' took the top spot at the box office this weekend with a healthy $37.0 million, opening slightly higher than expected. That was more than enough to edge out last week's champ, 'X-Men: First Class,' which dipped 55 percent to earn just $25.0 million.