Box Office Report: Mark Wahlberg Beats Disney 3D Re-Release and Tom Cruise

The first holiday weekend of the year has come and the big winner was the tender stare of an underwear model. The new Mark Wahlberg actioner, Contraband, came in at number one this weekend with an estimated Twenty-Four million. The impressive total marks one of the highest openings ever for a Mark Wahlberg starring film, and ranks comparably with other January films of this genre.

Coming in at number two was the 3D re-release of the Disney classic Beauty and the Beast. The 3D version raked in eighteen and a half million, which is less than the recent re-release of The Lion King in 3D. Even though the dollars weren’t as good, the sum is still nice considering how long this has been sitting on the shelf. Disney is staying in the 3D reissue business with releases scheduled twice a year for the next few years.

In a number three is the recent box office champ Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol, which continues to hold remarkably well. It brought in just over eleven million dollars and became the second highest grossing film in the Impossible franchise. This is a big win all around and looks to be a strong start Jeremy Renner’s assault on big budget franchise films.

In other interesting top ten news, last week’s big winner The Devil Inside had one of the worst second weekend drops in box office history. The movie plummeted over seventy-six percent, but at the end of the day every cent it makes after that monster opening weekend is all gravy.

Next weekend sees a crowded new field headlined by a brand new George Lucas film and the fourth installment of a a vampire action franchise. Red Tails, Underworld: Awakening and Haywire are all interesting films, especially for the month of January, so expect to see another strong weekend from the Box Office next week.

1 Contraband $24,100,000
2 Beauty and the Beast $18,490,000
3 Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol $11,500,000
4 Joyful Noise $11,345,000
5 Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows $8,410,000
6 The Devil Inside $7,900,000
7 The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo  $6,800,000
8 Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked $5,800,000
9 War Horse $5,607,000
10 The Iron Lady $5,386,000