Underworld slays the box office with $25.3M

Los Angeles: Kate Beckinsale returned to the Underworld as the vampire warrior Selene and helped propel the fourth film in the franchise, Underworld Awakening, to a first-place debut with $25.3 million. Last week’s No 1 movie, the thriller Contraband, fell to third place with just over $12 million. The top 20 movies at US and Canadian theatres Friday through Sunday, followed by distribution studio, gross, number of theater locations, average receipts per location, total gross and number of weeks in release, as compiled Monday by Hollywood.com are: 1. Underworld Awakening, Sony Screen Gems, $25,306,725, 3078 locations, $8,222 average, $25,306,725, one week. 2. Red Tails, Fox, $18,782,154, 2512 locations, $7,477 average, $18,782,154, one week. 3. Contraband, Universal, $12,039,605, 2870 locations, $4,195 average, $45,937,525, two weeks. 4. Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close, Warner Bros., $10,045,332, 2630 locations, $4,083 average, $10,737,239, five weeks. 5. Beauty and the Beast, Disney, $8,779,676, 2625 locations, $3,345, $33,588,056, two weeks. 6. Haywire, Relativity Media, $8,425,370, 2439 locations, $3,454 average, $8,425,370, one week. [caption id=“attachment_191726” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“Kate Beckinsale returned to the Underworld as the vampire warrior Selene and helped propel the fourth film in the franchise, Underworld Awakening, to a first-place debut with $25.3 million. AP”]  [/caption] 7. Joyful Noise, Warner Bros., $5,917,437, 2735 locations, $2,164 average, $21,745,419, two weeks. 8. Mission: Impossible — Ghost Protocol, Paramount, $5,554,254, 2519 locations, $2,205 average, $197,363,441, six weeks. 9. Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows, Warner Bros., $4,515,497, 2485 locations, $1,817 average, $178,321,726, six weeks. 10. The Iron Lady, Weinstein Co., $3,684,279, 1076 locations, $3,424 average, $12,585,958, four weeks. 11. “The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo,” Sony, $3,528,514, 1907 locations, $1,850 average, $94,553,582, five weeks. 12. War Horse, Disney, $3,150,502, 2525 locations, $1,248 average, $72,285,180, five weeks. 13. Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked, Fox, $3,076,168, 2070 locations, $1,486 average, $124,682,205, six weeks. 14. We Bought a Zoo, Fox, $2,783,440, 2065 locations, $1,348 average, $69,565,025, five weeks. 15. The Devil Inside, Paramount, $2,668,865, 2207 locations, $1,209 average, $51,289,972, three weeks. 16. The Descendants, Fox Searchlight, $2,372,298, 560 locations, $4,236 average, $51,259,658, 10 weeks. 17. The Artist, Weinstein Co., $2,371,803, 662 locations, $3,583 average, $12,119,718, nine weeks. 18. The Adventures of Tintin, Paramount, $2,218,841, 1340 locations, $1,656 average, $72,321,006, five weeks. 19. “Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy,” Focus Features, $1,763,380, 731 locations, $2,412 average, $18,328,977, seven weeks. 20. Hugo**,** Paramount, $937,620, 650 locations, $1,442 average, $55,887,402, nine weeks. AP