'The Grey' leaves the competition for the wolves

Liam Neeson's "The Grey" froze the competition, taking the weekend box office crown with $19.6 million, leaving its competition for the wolves.

The film earned $19.6 million.

Last weekend's number one film, "Underworld Awakening" dropped to second place with $12.3 million for a two-week total of $44 million. The film has a ways to go before it recoups its reported $70 million production budget. It's $40 million foreign total to date should help with that though.

The bounty hunter comedy "One for the Money" debuted in third place with $11.5 million, while George Lucas' "Red Tails" fell two stops to number four, grossing $10.3 million in its second weekend.

The third wide-release debut was "Man on a Ledge," which had to settle for fifth place and $8 million.

Several Academy Award best picture nominees saw their theater counts jump after last week's announcements, with the George Clooney-staring "The Descendants" jumping back into the top ten at number eight with $6.4 million. The film is now is full wide release with more than 2,000 screens.

"The Artist" finished just out of the top 10 in 12th place after expanding to almost 900 screens, grossing $3.3 million for the weekend, raising its total to $16.7 million.

The complete list of the weekend's top 10 grossing films is:

1. "The Grey," $19.6 million (New)
2. "Underworld Awakening," $12.3 million (Total: $44.9 million)
3. "One for the Money," $11.5 million (New)
4. "Red Tails," $10.3 million (Total: $33.7 million)
5. "Man on a Ledge," $8 million (New)
6. "Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close," $6.9 million (Total: $20.9 million)
7. "Contraband," $6.7 million (Total: $56.5 million)
8. "The Descendants," $6.4 million (Total: $58.7 million)
9. "Beauty and the Beast 3D," $5.3 million (Total: $41.1 million) 
 10. "Haywire," $4 million (Total: $15.2 million)

'Underworld" takes a bite out of the weekend box office

"Underworld Awakening," the fourth film in the vampires versus werewolves franchise proved their still life in the undead series, leading the weekend box office with $25.3 million.

The movie grossed $25.2 in its debut.

The George Lucas-produced "Red Tails," documenting the real-life accomplishments of African American pilots during World War II, came in second with $18.7 million.

Last week's champ, "Contraband," fell to third with $12 million. "Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close" expanded into wide release in its fifth weekend jumping to fourth place with $10 million.

Rounding out the top five was the 3D re-release of Disney's "Beauty and the Beast" with $8.7 million followed by newcomer "Haywire," which debuted in sixth place with $8.4 million.

The complete list of the weekend's top 10 grossing films is:

1. "Underworld Awakening," $25.3 million (New)
2. "Red Tails," $18.7 million (New)
3. "Contraband," $12 million (Total: $45.9 million)
4. "Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close," $10 million (Total: $10.7 million)
5. "Beauty and the Beast 3D," $8.7 million (Total: $33.5 million) 
6. "Haywire," $8.4 million (New)
7. "Joyful Noise," $5.9 million (Total: $21.7 million)
8. "Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol," $5.5 million (Total: $197.3 million)
9. "Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows," $4.5 million (Total: $178.3 million) 
10. "The Iron Lady," $3.6 million (Total: $12.5 million)