Rank
Title
Weekend
Gross
Cumulative
Gross
Weeks in
Release
1
$44,500,000
$44,500,000
1
2
 Bridge to Terabithia
$22,075,000
$22,075,000
1
3
 Norbit
$16,802,000
$58,884,000
2
4
 Music and Lyrics
$14,000,000
$19,529,000
1
5
Tyler Perry’s Daddy’s Little Girls
$12,100,000
$17,793,000
1
6
 Breach
$10,371,000
$10,371,000
1
7
 Hannibal Rising
$5,465,000
$22,127,000
2
8
Because I Said So
$4,990,000
$33,248,000
3
9
 The Messengers
$3,800,000
$30,509,000
3
10
 Night at the Museum
$3,700,000
$237,333,000
 9


Jumping out of the gates this weekend with a number one take and an impressive and President’s Day record-breaking $44 million haul, Ghost Rider shows how tracking can be oh so wrong, but for Marvel and Columbia still feel oh so right. Frankly, I’m surprised it did so very well, considering every rational person I spoke to always had a comment about how ridiculous it looked. Still, you have to look at any successful opening for a comic-based film with some silver lining as it heralds good news for the future of comic book adaptations. It’s just that doesn’t necessarily encompass good taste.

Bridge to Tarebithia took the number two spot despite critical hugs and kisses (and a real lovely poster, I might add), delivering the standard of previous weekends performance up to this point, sending Norbit to the bronze podium. Other newcomers this week, Music and Lyrics, , anomaly Tyler Perry’s new movie, (am I not in on the this whole Perry thing?) Daddy’s Little Girls and Breach debuted at four and five and six.

Hannibal Rising took an expected 60% drop-off from its poor opening last week to hit number seven, while Because I Said So, The Messengers and Night at the Museum (we bid thee adieu!) round out bottom-of-the-chart triumvirate.

Friday sees another heaping pile of contenders in The Abandoned, The Astronaut Farmer, The Number 23 and Reno 911!: Miami. Box office speculation is optimistic, as this weekend did far better than the same time last year.