娱乐英语新闻:Love story dominates Valentine's Day at perfect time

LOS ANGELES, Feb. 14 (Xinhua) -- The Warner Bros.' romance " Valentine's Day" premiered with warm acclaims and bountiful ticket sales over the weekend, making it the top grossing movie on Valentine's Day, the North America box office authority said on Sunday.

Among the top five movies that excel in movie theater ticket receipts, three debuted on Friday and are projected to grab the first three places for three days over the weekend.

Cast member Jennifer Garner poses at the premiere of "Valentine's Day" at the Grauman's Chinese theatre in Hollywood, California February 8, 2010.

"Valentine's Day," a female-oriented pastiche of love tales, will sell 52.4 million dollars worth of tickets by the close of business Sunday night. The North America box office authority said it is the best President's Day Weekend opener ever. It tells a story of a diverse group of Los Angelenos who navigate their way through romance and heartbreak over the course of one Valentine's Day.

Perched at the second place is "Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightning Thief," a 20th Century Fox adventure opening with 31. 1 million dollars in estimated sales. It tells how a teenager who, after discovering he's the descendant of a Greek god, sets out on an adventure to settle an ongoing battle between the gods.

Cast member Emily Blunt and her fiance, actor John Krasinski, pose at the premiere of "The Wolfman" at the ArcLight theatre in Hollywood, California February 9, 2010

"The Wolfman" from Universal opened in third place with a projected 30.6 million dollars of ticket sales. A remake of the 1941 classic starring Lon Chaney Jr., it features a talented cast including Oscar winner Sir Anthony Hopkins ("Silence of the Lambs") , the young and blossoming starlet Emily Blunt ("The Young Victoria") and is directed by Joe Johnston ("Hidalgo"). However, critics blame it for lack of suspense and wanting in solid features of a horror movie.

James Cameron's 3D sci-fi epic "Avatar" slipped from last week' s No. 2 into fourth place, garnering 22 million dollars over the weekend. However, the Fox release has harvested 659.6 million dollars in sales in the United States and Canada in a nine-week run.

Last week's No. 1 grosser, "Dear John" from Sony/Screen Gems, took in 15.3 million dollars this weekend and 53.2 million dollars over two weeks.