LOS ANGELES — Romance ruled the North American box office over the four-day holiday weekend, with star-studded comedy “Valentine’s Day” surging to top spot on its debut, final figures showed Tuesday.
The romantic ensemble starring Julia Roberts, Anne Hathaway, Jessica Biel, Jennifer Garner and Jessica Alba amongst others crushed the competition to scoop 63.1 million dollars, tracking firm Exhibitor Relations said.
Mythological adventure-fantasy picture “Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief,” based on Rick Riordan’s book and starring Pierce Brosnan and Uma Thurman, opened in second with 38.7 million dollars.
Another newcomer, “The Wolfman,” a remake of the lycanthrope legend with Benicio del Toro and Anthony Hopkins, took a 35.6-million-dollar bite at the box office for third place.
In fourth was science-fiction epic “Avatar,” the highest-grossing film of all time with more than two billion dollars worldwide. In its ninth week on North American release, James Cameron’s film made 28.8 million dollars.
Romantic tearjerker “Dear John” fell from the top to fifth spot in its second week. The film, an adaptation of the Nicholas Sparks novel about a soldier who falls in love with a college student, pulled in 18.2 million dollars for a two-week total of 56.1 million.
The Dwayne Johnson comedy “The Tooth Fairy” was in sixth place in its fourth week, with 8.0 million dollars, and 43.9 million in total.
Action film “From Paris With Love,” starring John Travolta and Jonathan Rhys Meyers, fell from third to seventh spot in its second week with 6.3 million.
In eighth place was revenge thriller, “Edge of Darkness,” featuring Mel Gibson in his first major screen role since 2002.
The film about a hard-bitten Boston cop hunting his daughter’s killers earned 5.6 million dollars for a three-week total of 37.2 million.
Ninth position went to “Crazy Heart,” a low-budget drama about a washed-up country singer struggling to rebuild his career, starring Jeff Bridges in the Oscar-nominated lead role. The film earned 5.0 million dollars.
Rounding out tenth place was romantic comedy “When in Rome,” starring Kristen Bell as a New Yorker seeking love in the Eternal City. It made 4.3 million dollars for a three-week total of 26.9
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