VALENTINE’S DAY Is Huge At The President’s Day Weekend Box Office
I guess a parade of famous actors and a timely holiday release is all you need to shatter records these days. Valentine’s Day became the biggest Presidents’ Day weekend release with its $56.3 million first place debut.
Including the Monday holiday, its four day total of $63.1 million led the charge as a trio of new releases helped make this the highest-grossing February weekend ever. The Wolfman narrowly edged out Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightning Thief with a $31.5 million 3-day total, just in front of Percy Jackson’s $31.2 million, but the four day totals put Percy Jackson well ahead of the horror icon revival. Chris Columbus’ latest hauled in $38.7 million against The Wolfman’s $35.6 million over the full holiday frame, thanks to a decidedly strong Monday for the kid-friendly pic. Meanwhile, Avatar may have fallen to 4th, but it certainly didn’t slow down as it hauled in another $28.8 million over the four days. Dear John rounded out the top 5 with $18.2 million.
Next week, Shutter Island is all alone at the box office, at least for wide releases. Roman Polanski’s latest film The Ghost Writer hits in limited release. The record stands at 10 for 16.
Check out the top 12 for the 3-day weekend below, or head on over to Box Office Mojo for the full weekend chart:
New releases highlighted in yellow
| TW | LW | Title (click to view) | Studio | Weekend Gross | % Change | Theater Count / Change | Average | Total Gross | Budget* | Week # | |
| 1 | N | Valentine’s Day | WB | $56,260,707 | - | 3,665 | - | $15,351 | $56,260,707 | $52 | 1 |
| 2 | N | The Wolfman | Uni. | $31,479,235 | - | 3,222 | - | $9,770 | $31,479,235 | $150 | 1 |
| 3 | N | Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightning Thief | Fox | $31,236,067 | - | 3,356 | - | $9,308 | $31,236,067 | $95 | 1 |
| 4 | 2 | Avatar | Fox | $23,611,625 | +3.3% | 2,685 | -315 | $8,794 | $661,217,278 | - | 9 |
| 5 | 1 | Dear John | SGem | $16,071,526 | -47.3% | 2,975 | +6 | $5,402 | $53,949,098 | $25 | 2 |
| 6 | 5 | Tooth Fairy | Fox | $6,054,257 | -8.7% | 2,748 | -470 | $2,203 | $41,982,992 | $48 | 4 |
| 7 | 3 | From Paris with Love | LGF | $5,495,113 | -32.6% | 2,722 | - | $2,019 | $16,607,903 | $52 | 2 |
| 8 | 4 | Edge of Darkness | WB | $4,841,295 | -29.4% | 2,615 | -451 | $1,851 | $36,324,976 | $80 | 3 |
| 9 | 8 | Crazy Heart | FoxS | $4,265,989 | +19.6% | 1,005 | +186 | $4,245 | $16,792,964 | $7 | 9 |
| 10 | 6 | When in Rome | BV | $3,682,881 | -33.6% | 2,125 | -331 | $1,733 | $26,280,610 | - | 3 |
| 11 | 7 | The Book of Eli | WB | $3,631,838 | -23.0% | 1,825 | -995 | $1,990 | $87,586,069 | $80 | 5 |
| 12 | 11 | The Blind Side | WB | $2,261,787 | -9.6% | 1,175 | -565 | $1,925 | $244,728,128 | $29 | 13 |
Tags: Avatar, Box Office, Dear John, Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightning Thief, Shutter Island, The Ghost Writer, The Wolfman, Valentine's Day
