娱乐英语新闻:"Safe House" leads President's Day derby with 28.5 mln USD

LOS ANGELES, Feb. 19 (Xinhua) -- "Safe House," the Denzel Washington CIA-themed thriller has turned in an impressive performance in the second weekend since opening in North America, grossing 28.5 million dollars in ticket sales on the four-day President's Day weekend to rule a tight race.

The actioner, released by Universal which also starred Ryan Reynolds, will lead last weekend's No. 1 Screen Gem/Sony film "The Vow" with a slight lead, as the Rachel McAdams-Channing Tatum romantic drama is estimated to take in 27.4 million dollars through Monday.

The showings are good enough for both films to pull ahead of two newcomers in the box office derby. "Ghost Rider: Spirit Of Vengeance," a 3-D sequel to 2007 Sony film "Ghost Rider," opened in third place, with an estimated 25.5 million dollar debut through Monday.

"This Means War," a romantic drama starring Reese Witherspoon, Chris Pine and Tom Hardy, opened in No. 5 which grossed an estimated 17.6 million dollar gate.

In "Ghost Rider: Spirit Of Vengeance," which is adapted from the Marvel Comics antihero "Ghost Rider," features Cage who reprises his role as Johnny Blaze. A stunt motorcyclist-turned- vigilante Ghost Rider who hides out in Eastern Europe, Cage is called upon to stop the devil who is trying to take human form. The film drew mainly male, who made up 61 percent and 48 percent of these who have seen the film was under the age of 25. The film received a lackluster C+ CinemaScore.

"Journey 2: The Mysterious Island" spilled a spot to fourth place, with a projected 20 million dollar gross through Sunday night only.

Rounding out 10 of the most-popular films in North America this weekend are "Wars Episode 1: The Phantom Menace 3-D" (7.9 million dollars), "Chronicle" (7.5 million dollars), "The Woman In Black" (6.7 million dollars), "The Secret World Of Arrietty" (debuting with 6.4 million dollars), and "The Grey" (3 million dollars).