box office

Moviegoers lined up to see Robert Downey, Jr. in ‘Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows,’ giving the sleuthing sequel a $40 million showing and the top spot at the box office this weekend.

‘The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1′ continued to dominate at the box office this weekend, earning $42 million to easily retain its top spot on the charts.

In news that will likely surprise exactly no one, ‘The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1′ glittered and gored its way to a spectacular $139.5 million premiere this weekend, giving the latest film in the popular franchise the fifth-largest domestic opening in history.

The four movies opening this weekend in wide release have a little something for everyone. ‘Abduction‘ finds ‘Twilight’ hottie Taylor Lautner in mortal danger after realizing that his entire childhood has been built on a vast conspiracy of lies.

Earning a total of $123 million at the box office in the month since its release, ‘The Help’ kept its number one spot in theaters for the third week in a row, becoming the first film to do so since last summer’s ‘Inception.’

Two new films — ‘Rise of the Planet of the Apes’ and ‘The Change-Up’ — premiered in the top five in this weekend’s best box-office earners, coming in at number one and number four, respectively. Last weekend’s top films, ‘The Smurfs’ and ‘Cowboys & Aliens,’ moved to the second and third-place slots. Here’s a recap of all five of this weekend’s best box-office earners.

The Harrison Ford/Daniel Craig sci-fi vehicle ‘Cowboys & Aliens’ tied with ‘The Smurfs’ for first place at the box office, with each taking in $36.2 million in their debut weekend. The blockbuster ‘Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2′ dropped to fourth, earning a total of $318.4 million in the three weeks since its release, while ‘Friends with Benefits,’ ‘Horrible Bosses,’ and ‘Trans

In news that will surprise exactly no one, ‘Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2′ completely dominated this weekend’s box office. The final film in the Potter franchise banked a record-breaking $168.6 million opening weekend, with $92 million on Friday alone. That number surpasses the previous record holder, ‘The Dark Knight,’ which opened to $158.4 million in 2008. “I’m too old for cartwh

As expected, Pixar’s ‘Cars 2′ easily took first place at the weekend box office, netting a healthy $68 million. That’s about $8 million higher than the original ‘Cars,’ which opened to $60.1 million in 2006.

As expected, ‘Green Lantern’ was the number one movie at the box office this weekend, taking in a slightly underwhelming $52.7 million, according to weekend estimates. That number marks the lowest opening for a superhero movie this summer, behind ‘Thor’ ($66 million) ‘X-Men: First Class’ ($56 million).

As expected, 'Thor' enjoyed a solid performance at the weekend box office. The superhero flick, which impressed most critics with its action-packed storyline and breakout performance by star Chris Hemsworth, took in an impressive $66 million, leaving the rest of the competition in the dust. Globally, the film has already grossed $242 million, according to Variety.

Once again, an animated movie found itself ruling the weekend box office. In this case, it was 'Rio.' The high-flying kids' movie, which features the voice talent of Anne Hathaway, Jesse Eisenberg and more, pulled in an estimated $40 million, making it the year's best opening thus far. Coming in at a distant second was the much-anticipated 'Scream 4,' which opened with an underwhelming $19.3 milli