'Underworld 4' Tops US Weekend B-O

JAN 23, 2012 - Underworld Awakening sunk its teeth in to the top spot at the U box office this weekend, though that didn't stop Red Tails from also putting up strong numbers in its debut.

Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close and Haywire were less impressive, though, and The Artist failed to gain much traction in its nationwide expansion. The Top 12 earned an estimated US$111.7 million this weekend, which is up a whopping 26 percent from the same period last year.

The latest entry in the Underworld franchise opened to an estimated US$25.4 million, which is just a bit behind Kate Beckinsale's last entry, 2006's Underworld: Evolution (US$26.9 million). It did at least mark a slight improvement over 2009's Underworld: Rise of the Lycans (US$20.8 million), though that was sans-Beckinsale and didn't receive a boost from 3D premiums.

Here are the Top 5 North American B-O studio estimates for Jan 20-22, 2012 weekend, in terms of rank, (previous week ranking), Movie name (studio), Weekend takings in USD, (Cumulative gross, USD) and week on chart, courtesy of Boxofficemojo. (US$1=RM3)

1. (-) Underworld Awakening (S.Gem) $25.4 million ($25.4 million) 1

2. (-) Red Tails (Fox) $19.1 million ($19.1 million) 1

3. (1) Contraband (Universal) $12.2 million ($46.1 million) 2

4. (36) Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close (WB) $10.5 million ($11.2 million) 5

5. (-) Haywire (Relativity) $9.0 million ($9.0 million) 1