'Safe House' secures the top spot in its second weekend

This Presidents' Day weekend was a boon for studios and exhibitors. Box office was up 10% during the four-day weekend that brings in kids and adults alike taking advantage of a day or week-long break. What's more, the top five films earned over $20 million over the four-day period, an unusually equal split of audiences.

Safe House rose to the top spot by shedding just 40% of its audience for a $23.8 million three-day weekend ($28.4 million including Monday). The pair-up of Denzel Washington and Ryan Reynolds is something of a demographic boon: young, old, white, black. Washington's a legacy action hero and Reynolds has a bit of a heartthrob thing going for him. No wonder the actioner is generating such high returns.

The Vow, which was timed to precede Valentine's Day, dipped 43% from last week with a $23.1 million three-day/$26.2 million four-day total. The Rachel McAdams-Channing Tatum romance has already logged an $88 million cumulative total thanks to strong weekday showings. This appears to be one romance that will endure beyond the holiday for which it was intended.

Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance debuted with $22.1 million ($25.7 million including Monday). The Nicolas Cage action sequel did not get good reviews, but performed fairly evenly throughout the weekend. Even the commercials for this movie could not hide its cheesiness, but hey--some people just can't not see something with flaming motorcycles.

When you count Monday, Journey 2: The Mysterious Island rose from fourth ($19.9 million) to third place ($26.6 million). The boost came from the many kids on holiday this week.

Spy-action-romance flick This Means War debuted in fifth place with a $17.3 million three-day/$20.4 million four-day total. Given the worries and last-minute switcheroos done by its studio, Fox, which pulled it from a Valentine's Day opening because it didn't want to compete with The Vow, it actually performed well. Though I'm not sure "well" will cover the paychecks of Reese Witherspoon and her co-stars Tom Hardy, and Chris Pine.

The Japanese animated film The Secret World of Arrietty, redubbed for English-speaking audiences, also rose a spot when you count in Monday's totals--$6.4 million three-day versus a $8.2 million four-day total.

The Oscars are this Sunday, and The Artist noted a nice 7.8% uptick to $2.4 million this weekend, one of the few films below the top ten to register an increase. The Oscar-nominated documentary Undefeated opened to a $33,000 per-screen average in five locations, a powerful opening that demonstrates the football doc could reach a broad audience.

On Friday, the action movie Act of Valor, filmed using real Navy SEALS, will open. Rounding out the mix will be comedy Wanderlust, Tyler Perry's Good Deeds, and the Amanda Seyfried thriller Gone.