"SAFE HOUSE" RISES TO THE TOP IN SECOND WEEK: NARROWLY BEATS "THE VOW"

Still from Safe House

Although final numbers for the U.S. President's Day weekend won't be out till end of day Monday, Universal Pictures rises the top of the Box Office narrowly with Action-Thriller Safe House in its second week with $24 million. Starring Denzel Washington and Ryan Reynolds, it edges-out two releases from Sony Pictures with Romantic-Drama The Vow which was number one last week,  earning $23.6 million this weekend.  In two weeks, it has pulled-in $90 million - extremely solid.

The other Film from Sony is a sequel, Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance 3-D starring Nicolas Cage and Idris Elba (currently in Toronto), which opens to the tune of $22 million.  The Action Flick was made for $75 million, although it has yet to open overseas, where its predecessor fared strongly back in 2007, going on to make $112 million there alone.

Warner Bros.' Journey 2: The Mysterious Island 3-D seems to have cornered the Family market this Holiday weekend, slipping in fourth with $20.8 million in its second week of release, a two-week total of $59 million for the Brad Peyton-directed Adventure.

Debuting in fifth surprisingly is 20th Century Fox's This Means War with $17.5 million, which despite an all-star Cast including Reese Witherspoon, Chris Pine, Tom Hardy and Chelsea Handler - opening in 3,189 theatres - still is garnering lower numbers than expected.  The entertaining Action/Rom-Com offered Sneak Previews on Valentine's Day, although that doesn't seem to boost its numbers by much.

The Secret World of Arriety from Walt Disney Motion Pictures despite extremely positive reviews (93% at Rotten Tomatoes), only manages a ninth-place debut this weekend with $6.4 million. It only is showing in 1,522 theatres, knowing its place against its competition.  This however, isn't really that much of a disgrace considering that it already has earned a whopping $126 million overseas.

Former champ The Grey rounds out the Top Ten this weekend with $3 million in this fourth week of release for Open Road in the U.S. and eOne Films in Canada.