January and February are habitually known as the dumping ground for studios to test out their films that they have less faith in than their major tentpole or franchise films. That certainly doesn’t seem to be the case this weekend, as 2 very different genre film topping the box office.

First, a second generation sci-fi writer, Max Landis’ Chronicle about 3 friends that develop superpowers and figure out which side, good or evil, they want to fight for. The film, which got an 85% on RottenTomatoes, managed to pull in an estimated $22 million this weekend, which is nearly double what the production budget of the film was. Easily, a success.

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In a weekend that had tons of free-range beasts, moviegoers had the choice of watching Sam Worthington hang out on a ledge, Vampires take on genetic Werewolves, or Liam Neeson just take on wolves. And it looks like the man and his “particular set of skills” continued to dominate the hearts of men and women everywhere, by bringing The Grey to the #1 spot this weekend with an estimated $20 Million.

Close behind the dramatic man vs. beast tale was the fourth installment of the “Kate Beckinsale in leather” films known as Underworld. Not a terrible second weekend for the flick, as it raked in $12 Million, just halfing its take from last weekend. In the third spot this weekend, Katherine Heigl continues to make mens’ stomaches turn with her One for the Money ”comedy”, which only made $11.7 Million this weekend.

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The fourth installment of the Underworld franchise tried to bring the series back to it’s bread and butter, Kate Beckinsale in skin-tight leather. That was seemingly all you need as the film bounced back from the disappointing third installment and stands tall with a similar start to that of the first two movies.

The estimated twenty-five and a half million dollar haul puts Awakening on pace to top the over all totals of the first and third movies, whether or not it can catch the series peak, set by Evolution, will depend on it’s hold next weekend. The per theater average and total screen numbers are comparable to the second film which performed the best up to this point in the series.

Coming in at an impressive nineteen million is Red Tails, the Lucasfilm tale of the famed Tuskegee Airman. The movie surpassed many expectations and out paced other fighter pilot films by a solid margin. Much like Underworld: Awakening, the critical reception of Red Tails has not been kind, so it will need strong word of mouth to maintain momentum into next weekend.

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This week’s pick is The Road Warrior (a.k.a. Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior) (1981). Mel Gibson dons his black leather uniform once again in this second installment of the franchise.

The Road Warrior begins with a narration sequence with an elderly man’s voice as it is shown to the audience the widespread pandemonium, which has steered the world towards nuclear Armageddon. Mad Max I shows the audience the beginning of the end. The Road Warrior picks up after the world has been destroyed and society hangs by a narrow thread.

Max roams the wasteland of Australia with his battle-torn black V-8 interceptor and his cattle dog foraging for supplies mainly food, and fuel for his gas-guzzling supercharger. Much like the first film, the first several minutes of the film offer an amazing chase sequence where Max is being pursued by a band of marauding punks led by the vicious Wez (Vernon Wells) who plan to kill Max and take his vehicle and what precious supplies he has left.

Max foils their attempt and wreaks two vehicles in an amazing crash sequence. Max commanders what fuel he can from one of the wreaked cars and fends off an attack by Wez who was shot in the arm with an arrow.  Collecting what he can Max sets off again with his dog and his even more damaged vehicle.

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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.

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Usually January is a wasteland for the box office, dominated by award bait films, studio dump offs and the sputtering remains of the Christmas blockbusters. This week, one new film braved these difficult days and came out with very respectable numbers.

The Devil Inside debuted on over twenty-two hundred screens, bringing in an estimated thirty-four and a half million dollars. The satanic possession horror film raked in the 3rd highest January opening ever behind Cloverfield and  the special edition re-release of Star Wars back in ’97. The movie had a production budget of only one million, which makes this weekend a pretty big win for Paramount.

Coming in second place this weekend was Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol , which continued it’s very impressive run. With another twenty million, it now is on pace to threaten Mission: Impossible 2 as the series’ top grosser. The movie has had several weeks of really solid holds and is proving to be the big winner of the crowded holiday season.

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Those of you who follow our weekly Box Office Report may have noticed that we skipped our report last week. It wasn’t for any other reason than it was the saddest and weakest week that the US box office brought in all year. It was pretty depressing.

We figured, given the fact that two blockbusters (one with a soft opening of 425 theaters) and a kids’ threequal was hitting theaters, there was bound to be a boom in ticket sales. Or so we thought.

This weekend, the big hit (and that’s speaking wildly) was Warner Bros’ Sherlock Holmes 2, which netted only $40 Million. That’s about $20 Million less than the first film brought in on its first weekend.

The margin after that first film was also pretty massive, as Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked pulled in a whole third of their production budget with a total of $23 Million for the weekend. This was the lowest of the three films’ opening weekends, which was about half of both films’ respective opening totals.

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Seasons greetings! This week’s pick is a comedy holiday classic from the successful National Lampoon’s Vacation series. Chevy Chase stars as Clark W. Griswold in National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation.

This third installment of the series follows the Griswolds and Clark’s quest for the best family Christmas. The film’s opening sequence follows the family into the wilderness in the ultimate quest for the perfect Christmas tree. As Clark and the fam enter a clearing a beam of light falls on the perfect tree.

Like the two previous films, Clark’s expectations exceed the rest of the family’s and he is completely oblivious to everything. As they gather around the tree, Rusty asks if Clark brought a saw. Clark’s toothy smile turns to an immediate frown as he realizes his first mistake. In the last scene the tree is strapped to the roof of the car, completely torn from the ground, roots and all. Ridiculous yet brilliant.

As the in-laws and assorted family members arrive at Clark’s home for Christmas, things begin to go horribly awry, especially when cousin Eddie (Quaid) and his family arrive unexpectedly. Greatest line ever when Eddie asks Clark if he’s surprised to see him “Eddie if I woke up tomorrow with my head sewn to the carpet I wouldn’t be more surprised than I am right now.”

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It turns out even decades of laughter through the form of hundreds of felt puppets can’t beat the Kristen Stewart pregnancy movie. After having one of the most intense marketing campaigns that Disney has ever executed for The Muppets, Breaking Dawn Pt. 1 still managed to beat the film in the box office by over $10 million during the holiday weekend.

The vampy melodrama got the #1 spot for the second weekend in a row with $42 million this weekend, while Muppets (which made $42 in total since it opened on Wednesday) was only able to pull in an estimated $29 million. It looks like vampires really are more popular than singing frogs and pigs. Shame.

Also hitting theaters this weekend, Sony’s Arthur Christmas fell flat with an estimated $12.7 opening weekend. Speaking of falling flat, Scorsese’s Hugo had an even weaker opening, as it came in 5th place with just over $11 million.

These films could very well do better as we draw closer to the holidays, but don’t expect to see much in the form of sequels for these family classics. Those films may not have performed as well as they could have, but what did was the Weinstein’s My Week with Marilyn which pulled off just over $2 million for its first weekend.

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As if it were a surprise. The penultimate film in the Twilight saga, Breaking Dawn: Part 1, opening in just over 4,000 screens across the nation, managed to pick up just under $140 Million in the domestic box office. It also got just over $280 Million worldwide.

With a production budget of $110 Million, and making $15 Million more than the opening weekend of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Pt. 1, Summit is sitting pretty high and mighty at this point. Also opening this weekend, Warner’s Happy Feet Two, which came in at #2 with $22 Million.

As expected, the rest of the box office took a bit of a hit due to all the vampire-on-werewolf action. Last weekend’s #1 hit Immortals took more than a 60% drop and only grossed an estimated $12 Million. Adam Sandler’s unfortunate new flick Jack and Jill came in right behind with just under $12 Million.

We expect Breaking Dawn to continue its success throughout the week, and possibly next weekend. Disney’s Muppets opens wide on Thanksgiving Day, so don’t expect to see the Twilight kids walk away completely unscathed after Kermit has his way with them.

This is one of those weekends that proves the merit of the American moviegoer. Will people fill theaters to go see Adam Sandler get in a fistfight with himself dressed in drag? Or will they go see a biopic of one of the most important men in US history?

Looks like it was neither, as people would rather see the next Superman take out Mickey Rourke while a bunch of Greek gods watch from above (not to knock the movie, it was entertaining). Opening in just over 3,000 screens, Immortals made it to the #1 spot this weekend with a reach of $32 million in the domestic box office, and over $60 million worldwide.

Sadly, coming in at a (too) close second, Sandler’s Jack and Jill managed to pull in $26 million this weekend, averaging roughly $7,500 per screen. In second and third are last weekend’s top hits, Puss in Boots and Tower Heist, which are still making strong money.

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Even Eddie Murphy and his band of not-so-ready for Ocean’s 11 players couldn’t knock Antonio Banderas and his animated counterpart “Puss” from their place on the box office mountain top this week. Whether that’s a good thing, or a bad thing, we’re not entirely sure.

That’s right, Dreamworks’ Puss in Boots managed to steal another weekend with an estimate of $33 Million and a total of $75 Million overall. Universal’s Tower Heist was able to come in second, however, with $25 Million. Not very good, considering the film cost upward of $75 Million to make.

Also hitting theaters this weekend, Warner’s A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas opened to a small $13 Million, which makes sense, seeing as how Halloween was less than a week ago!

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