New release The Devil Inside beat out the competition—which consisted of a slate of nearly-a-month-old films and a few new limited releases—to come in number one at the box office, earning a rather impressive opening weekend gross of $34.5 million. Last week’s number one film, Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol (weekend gross $20.5 million, total gross $170.2 million), fell to number two, and Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows (weekend gross $14 million, total gross $157.4 million) came in at number three. David Fincher’s The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo held steady at number four with a weekend gross of $11.4 million (total gross $76.8 million). Rounding out the top five was Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked; its $9.5 million weekend gross brings its total so far to $111.5 million.
None of the limited releases to hit theaters last weekend managed to make a substantial splash at the box office. The Dennis Quaid-starring thriller Beneath the Darkness brought in only $9,600, and Japanese film Norwegian Wood‘s $13,000 take, while impressive given it played on only three screens, still isn’t a heck of a lot.
Of note, however, is Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, which expanded to wide release over the weekend and managed to crack the top ten despite still only screening at 809 locations (compare that to number eight film The Adventures of Tintin, which played at 3,006 locations). The Cold War-era spy thriller was first released in the United States on December 9th; its weekend gross of $5.7 million pushes its total gross past the $10 million mark, to $10.4 million.
Moviegoers in search of something new to see next weekend will have slightly expanded options, as Contraband and Joyful Noise are both coming to theaters in wide release. Among the limited releases to hit the big screen are Loosies, Miss Bala, The Iron Lady, Sing Your Song, Newlyweds and We Need to Talk About Kevin. For young audiences, 3-D enthusiasts or those in search of a nostalgia fix, Beauty and the Beast 3-D, a 3-Dified version of Disney’s 1991 animated classic, is being released next weekend in theaters across the country, with Disney doubtlessly hoping to replicate the enormous success (i.e., two weeks at number one, a gross of over $100 million) they had when they re-released The Lion King in 3-D last autumn.
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