'Chronicle' flies over Harry Potter to take weekend box office crown

The found-footage style film "Chronicle" narrowly beat out fellow newcomer "The Woman in Black" to lay claim to first place at the box office for what was a surprisingly strong February weekend.

"Chronicle" earned $22 million.

The low budget "Chronicle," which follows three teens who gain superpowers, earned $22 million over the weekend, almost double its reported budget of $12 million.

Meanwhile, Harry Potter himself, Daniel Radcliffe tried his hand at the horror genre with "The Woman in Black," which grossed $21 million for a respectable second place finish.

Last weekend's champ "The Grey," dropped 51 percent in its second weekend with $9.5 million and third place. Over two weeks, the $25 million picture has earned $34.7 million.

The Drew Barrymore-starring film "Big Miracle," inspired by a real-life whale rescue in Alaska, trailed its competitors with only $8.5 million in its first weekend. The movie has a reported budget of $40 million.

Rounding out the top five was "Underworld Awakening," which earned $5.6 million for a three week total of $54 million. The fourth film in the franchise was made for a reported $70 million.


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

1. "Chronicle," $22 million (New)
2. "The Woman in Black," $21 million (New)
3. "The Grey," $9.5 million (Total: $34.7 million)
4. "Big Miracle," $8.5 million (New)
5. "Underworld Awakening," $5.6 million (Total: $54.3 million)
6. "One for the Money," $5.2 million (Total: $19.6 million)
7. "Red Tails," $5 million (Total: $41.3 million)
8. "The Descendants," $4.6 million (Total: $65.5 million)
9. "Man on a Ledge," $4.5 million (Total: $14.7 million)
10. "Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close," $3.9 million (Total: $26.7 million)

'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)